


GravityTale

by teffyjeffy



Category: Gravity Falls, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ALL THE CIPHERS, Crossover, Dialogue Heavy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gravity Falls Mystery, Gravity Falls Spoilers, HAPPY DECODING, Multi, Post-Canon, Undertale Spoilers, hopefully plenty of it, possible trigger: mentioning of parental neglect, there's also humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-07-14 21:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7190234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teffyjeffy/pseuds/teffyjeffy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas Break, and Dipper and Mabel get to spend it in Gravity Falls! But when harmless monsters (and their child ambassador) stop by the town, weirdness begins to sprout in Gravity Falls like dandelions. With a new journal and a new mysterious author, Dipper, Mabel, and Frisk, will find themselves in a Gravity Falls that is weirder than ever. And nobody's safe. Not anymore. (ON HIATUS)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home For Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to click the giant "GravityTale" title if you want to hear the GravityTale theme song!

Ahhhh, Winter Break. A time to relax, smile, appreciate what you have, take it easy, and stay warm inside with family.

Unless you’re one of the Mystery Twins.

* * *

“ONWARD, TO THE MYSTERY SHAAAAACK!!!” Hollered an energetic young girl, as she pounced on the seat she deemed worthy to be sat on. Following soon after was a young boy, wearing a somewhat worn out tan lumberjack hat. Though his energy wasn’t nearly as high as his fellow passenger, his smile was just as bright as hers.

Meet the Mystery Twins! The one who is giddily bouncing on her seat is Mabel Pines: Scrapbook Artist, Sweater-Knitting Master, and (self proclaimed) God of Destruction. The one who is quickly grabbing hold of a nearby newspaper to read any articles regarding the abnormal is Dipper Pines: Aspiring Conspiracy Detective, Ghost Hunter, Code Breaker, and everything else in between.

Normal passerby would be (reasonably) alarmed to see two children leave their parents’ home, and hop on a bus that leads to another state, without supervision, the day after Christmas morning. 

Rest assured, there’s a perfectly logical explanation.

* * *

##  [ **_GravityTale_ ** ](http://teffyjeffy.tumblr.com/post/141345215646/gravitytale-with-whisper)

* * *

It all started when Mabel began using the Bambi eyes on her parents. And she was doing very well at it, if she had anything to say about it.

Today would be marked “day four” of the Bambi eyes.

“Mabel, if you keep using that face, people are going to start thinking you have partial DNA of a tree frog,” commented Dipper, as he finished buttering his Christmas breakfast toast.

“Awwww why tree frog?” pouted Mabel. “Why not have DNA of the Slow Liro?”

“Slow _Loris,_ “ corrected Dipper. “And if you had that, that would mean that those Bambi eyes of yours would be a ruse, until Mom and Dad were close enough. Then you would emit toxic chemicals from your elbows, killing our parents instantly.”

“Oh,” said Mabel, giggling in embarrassment and nervousness. “Yeeeaaahhh I’ll stick with tree frog.”

“Well then,” said a smiling Dipper, “Does Sister Tree Frog-”

“That’s QUEEN Tree Frog to you!” stated Mabel, standing proudly.

“Would Queen Tree Frog,” repeated Dipper, “wish to have the toast with butter on one side, or both sides?”

“BOTH!” screamed Mabel, pumping her fists towards the ceiling.

“Both sides? Or both kinds of buttered toast?” teased Dipper.

“Queen Tree Frog demands you cease delaying the inevitable, and start putting toast in her mouth!” demanded Mabel, playfully. 

“Only if she’s ready to catch it!” said Dipper, winding up his arm.

“QUEEN TREE FROG ACCEPTS YOUR CHALLENGE!” shouted Mabel.

Dipper tossed the half slice of toast into the air, as Mabel gracefully caught it in her arms and stuffed it into her mouth.

“Heyyyy no fair!” whined Dipper, laughing nonetheless. “You were supposed to catch it with your tongue!”

“I may have the eyes of a tree frog,” stated Mabel, with over-the-top acting, “But the insides of my mouth-ular region remain true to the human race!”

“True,” admitted Dipper. “Not a single tree frog in the world could show off those shiny braces like you can, sister.”

The Mystery Twins were eventually hunched over the table, laughing at each other’s attempts at comedy.

It was a glorious Christmas for the twins. Dipper got a detective tool kit, and a mini chemistry set to experiment with; Dipper’s eyes sparkled brighter than the golden star on the Christmas tree. Mabel had received a mountain of yarn and similar sweater accessories, and Mabel, as she put it, produced a bunch of tears and didn’t know what to do with said tears. 

It was everything that the twins could wish for. 

Well, _almost_ everything.

* * *

It was no secret to Mr. and Mrs. Pines that the twins missed Gravity Falls greatly. They surprised the parents, having returned home with wild imaginations, arts and crafts, a pet pig(?), and if their seventh grade midterm exams said anything, vast amounts of knowledge.

Unbeknownst to the twins, Mr. and Mrs. Pines had been planning a second trip for the little ones, ever since they saw the second-homesickness in their children’s eyes. The parents secretly agreed with each other that they would only give the kids a second trip if they saw proof that the children could be responsible for themselves. Fortunately, the lack of bullying, the thankful attitudes, and the amazing grades more than convinced the parents that the children could handle a second trip.

And although neither parent would admit it, the Bambi eyes sealed their decision.

“Dippeeerrr! Mabeeelllll!” called Mrs. Pines from the second floor, holding a cell-phone in mid-call. “There is someone on the phone who would like to speak with you!”

As with everything that caught the attention of the two little rascals, the trip became a race.

“I GOT IT!” shouted Dipper, tipping the chair over as he launched himself out of it.

“*cough cough* NO WAIT I GOT IT!” hollered Mabel, almost choking on her second toast slice before swallowing it and pursuing her brother towards the stairwell. 

The kids slipped and slid on the hardwood floor, before darting towards the stairs, noisily climbing each step. Mrs. Pines immediately handed the phone to Dipper, in an attempt to end the race before somebody got hurt.

“GOT IT!” howled the victorious Dipper, despite being short of breath.

“You won’t be as successful next time, little brother,” muttered Mabel, in fake sworn revenge. 

Dipper gave Mabel a half-hearted glare before bringing the phone up to his ear.

“Mmmyes, who is this?” asked Dipper, with his worst impression of the Northwests ever. Dipper was rewarded with a snicker from Mabel and light-hearted eye roll from Mrs. Pines.

 _“Well jeez Louise, if I didn't know you any better, I’d say that 7th grade transformed you into a pompous freak!”_  barked a very familiar gruff voice from the phone.

The phone almost shattered on the stairs.

“Grunkle Stan?!” yelped Dipper.

“Dippeeeerrrrrr,” said Mabel in a threatening tone, “If this is your horrible excuse for a joke-”

“Here! Here! Take it!” shouted an excited Dipper, forcing the phone into Mabel’s hands. She cautiously brought it up to her ears…

 _“Annnnnnnd THIS must be the kitten with braces!”_ shouted the phone, roughly. _“How’ve you been, sweetie?!”_  

“GRUNKLE STAN!!!” screamed Mabel, her grip on the phone becoming strong enough to suffocate a random stranger.

 _“Well you two sound surprised to hear from me again!”_ said Stanley, laughing from the other end of the receiver.  _“Well imagine how surprised_ I _was when your mother called and told me the news!”_

“News? What kind of news?!” asked Dipper, looking up at his mother, a rare chuckle escaping her lips.

“Did someone DIE?!” shouted Mabel into the phone, immediately jumping to insane conclusions.

 _“Bah hah hah hah hah! Nah, not this time, ya little munchkin!”_ replied the laughing Stanley. _“I guess it would be best if you two heard it from the source, just like I did!”_

“I suppose he means me,” piped up a smiling Mrs. Pines, gaining the attention of both children.

“Your father and I have seen how much you two miss that tiny little village in Oregon. Though we cannot exactly fathom why. Regardless, you two came home with everything we hoped you would experience by taking that trip in the first place. And if you two show that you desire to return there… well… who are we to say no?”

The children were absolutely speechless, so Mrs. Pines took this moment to dig through her purse, and bring out two (imaginatively) shining tickets.

“The bus for Gravity Falls will arrive for you two at 8:00 at the closest bus station,” stated a beaming Mrs. Pines. “It would be best to start packing your things. I hear it gets pretty cold in Oregon during the winter.”

* * *

“I cannot BELIEVE IT!” hollered Dipper, no longer able to contain his excitement on the bus. “Your Bambi eyes actually WORKED!”

“VICTORY ONCE AGAIN FOR QUEEN TREE FROG!” bellowed Mabel, sending the two children into a fit of hysterics.

“Hee hee hee- So!” piped Mabel when the laughter finally died down. “Do you think Gravity Falls will be back to normal? I mean, it all was because of Bill-Face, right?”

“’Bill-Face’?!” asked Dipper, his surprise making him laugh all over again. “Oh I am SO going to call him that if I run into his grave statue!”

“BILLLLLL-FACE! BILLLLLL-FACE!” chanted Mabel passionately.

“Well, to answer your question, I would have to believe that everything will be normal in Gravity Falls now, minus all the mythical creatures that weren’t from Bill’s dimension. I mean, I could always read Grunkle Stan’s copies of Grunkle Ford’s journals, though the black light ink may be a little faulty. But hey, still would be a nice collection of memories.”

“But half of those memories tried to kill us…” reminded Mabel, whispering so the driver wouldn’t hear.

“Yeah, but we pulled through, didn’t we?” said Dipper, also whispering. “Looking back on those memories would be like our way of saying ‘In your face!’ to everything that tried to harm us.”

“I guess a ‘normal’ Gravity Falls means that the Abnormal articles in that newspaper are gonna get a lot more boring and snot-worthy,” joked Mabel.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” admitted Dipper, still browsing the Abnormal articles. “Wait… hold on a minute. Hey Mabel, take a look at this.”

Mabel hunched over to take a better look at what Dipper was pointing at. The picture displayed was a far away shot of a giant mountain in front of a blue sky, the sky basking the giant boulder in a coat of silhouette black. 

“’Mountain Known For Disappearances May Be Responsible For Release Of Long Lost Race?’” asked Mabel, questioning the headline.

“’See page 20 for details’…” Dipper thought out loud. He slowly turned to the suggested page number, both kids now ridiculously quiet.

“’In an event that may have been caused from the aftermath of [Excerpt Removed. Never Mind All That.],” Dipper read aloud, both twins knowing what the excerpt was, “the top peak of the infamous Mt. Ebott cracked and burst four months ago, with no eye-witnesses around to explain why. In the past, Mt. Ebott received a haunting reputation of being responsible for the dissappearances of up to 8 humans. A month later after reports of the bursting of Mt Ebott, the state of Oregon was introduced to a race long thought to be deceased: Monsters.’” 

“Monsters?!” loudly whispered Mabel. “Are they dangerous?”

“Hang on, there’s more,” replied Dipper, turning the page. This page had a different picture, that of a young child, possibly age 11. They were dressed in blue and purple striped wool, and wore a rather stoic expression. Dipper continued to read, while Mabel remained silent.

“’But yesterday afternoon, we were able to sit down with the monsters’ interesting choice for an ambassador: Frisk Dreemurr, age 11. Ambassador Frisk confirmed that the monsters indeed came from the cracked shell of Mt Ebott. However, they remain silent regarding the truth behind Mt Ebott’s violent erosion. Furthermore-’ Mabel!”

“WHAT?!” squawked Mabel, almost falling out of her seat.

“What’s gotten into you?! Did you not see the image of Frisk on this page?” violently whispered Dipper. 

“Hm?” mumbled Mabel. “Yeah. I saw it.”

“Oh no,” said Dipper, folding up the newspaper. “Come on Mabel. You’re  usually swooning at this point. Come on, even _I_ think the kid’s adorable!”

“Lets face it, Dipper,” stated Mabel. “I’m never going to be ready for romance. I focused my entire summer on romances. What did I get? A heart that got shattered every other week! And if summer and spring are the seasons when love is in the air, then I have absolutely no chance during a season like _winter._ ”

“Don’t say winter in that tone of voice, you sound like Mom and Dad. Listen, you don’t have to be in a relationship to think someone is cute. And I know you. I bet you think that kid is absolutely adorable.”

“Okay maybe I do,” said Mabel allowing herself a chuckle. “But that’s all you’ll get out of me.”

“All I’m saying is that if you feel like talking to them if you meet them,” continued Dipper, “then I won’t think any less of you for giving it a shot. Who knows? It could give you another excuse to use your breathtaking Bambi eyes.”

Dipper got a giggle out of Mabel with that one.

“Well hey, if we end up meeting them, I’ll be sure to say hello to them,” admitted Mabel, “If! You agree to do the lamb dance for me if nothing comes out of it.”

“Ooooooh them’s fighting words, Mabel,” said Dipper, cringing.

“Its not like you have much to lose,” said Mabel in a sing songy voice. “Cmon Dipper. It’s Winter Break! And Gravity Falls is only a day away. Let’s _both_ live it up a little.” 

“Welllll alright,” said Dipper, surrendering. “I accept. It’s a dea-”

Dipper’s open hand clenched around nothing. His breathing halted for a split second.

“Not that, Dipper!” frantically explained Mabel. “A challenge! That’s what this is! A challenge! A game! Like Backseat Treasure Hunt!”

“A game…” said Dipper. “Yeah… that sounds good…”

Mabel let out a sigh of relief. “Alright then. Why don’t you set yourself down to rest. I can see the sun starting to set. Hey! This would be the perfect moment for me to read my new book that I found at the discount section at the bookstore! Peekaboo with Fluffy Bunny!”

“Heh. Sounds great, Mabel,” said Dipper, realizing how sleepy he was. “Hey, Mabel?”

“Yes, Sir Dippingsauce?”

“Merry Christmas.”

Mabel beamed. “Merry Christmas to you. And a Happy New- Bop!” she said, before gently poking Dipper.

“Stoppit,” mumbled Dipper, chuckling quietly.

 _Frisk, huh?_ thought Mabel, looking at the newspaper image of the child while she searched for her book to read. _I guess I_ wouldn’t _mind at least meeting them. But they could be anywhere in Oregon. It would be as difficult to locate them as it would be for a non-Oregon citizen to locate the statue of Bill-Face. I guess all I can do is wonder. So says I, Queen Tree Frog._

* * *

Stan darted his eyes towards all the… colorful new faces that showed up at his house only after he had moved in a few hours ago.

“So lemme get this straight,” said Stan, looking down. “You’re looking for someone to have a discussion about implementing monsters into human society, and the rest of the town gave you the same address. My address.”

“Yes, sir,” replied the child, looking up at the skeptic elder.

“Well, guess I have to let you in then,” replied Stan. “Does a little runt like you have a name?”

“Yes, sir,” replied the kid. “Frisk Dreemurr. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” 

“Ummmm yeah… Name’s Stanley. And uhhh…. Likewise,” replied the elder. “How bout you come in? Mind your head.”

One by one, many peculiar creatures stepped into the humble Mystery Shack.

“And I don’t care what anyone else says. As long as I’m under this roof, there will be  _NO_ touching the merchandise!” 

* * *

_Never fear taking a chance on something you want to do._  

* * *

## NLMHGVIH VNVITV ZMW NBHGVIB XZOOH  
DSVM WRKKVI ZMW NZYVO IVGFIM GL TIZERGB UZOOH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my first upload to AO3! Hope you like it so far!


	2. Back to Normal?

_The walls…_  
_The walls were closing in…_  
_Dipper was running. Running as fast as his legs could carry him, before reaching yet another dead end…_  
_The walls burst to flames…_  
_The floor shattered…_  
_Dipper was freefalling…_  
_And right in front of him was a creature as tall as a skyscraper and as cruel as fate itself…_  
_Bill Cipher…_  
_Dipper found that he couldnt shut his eyes or cover his ears as Bill got right up to his face and released the most taunting, cruel, terror inducing…_

“SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

* * *

##  **_[GravityTale](http://teffyjeffy.tumblr.com/post/141345215646/gravitytale-with-whisper) _ **

* * *

-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” hollered Waddles, right in front of Dipper’s very-much-awake face.

“AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” yelped Dipper in absolute alarm.

“Morning Dipper! Starting the day off with a screaming contest?” asked Mabel. “Because if so, I would like to have it postponed until I have a glass of Mabel Juice flowing through my system,” she finished, patting her tummy for effect. “Then, I will accept your challenge.”

“Couldn’t you have woken me up in a less… eardrum-piercing kind of way?” complained Dipper, rubbing his head and scrunching his eyes from the bright light of the sun.

“Whaaaaaaaaat?” asked Mabel, holding the word out like a game buzzer. “Is Mr. Dipper accusing Ms. Mabel of waking him up?”

“Yes Mabel, that’s _exactly_ what he’s doing,” said Dipper, folding his arms and pouting. “Waddles would never do that without you telling him to. He’s always been content to just lick my face until I’m awake. And don’t get me started on the time he headbutted me in the face when I was napping on the couch.” 

“Oh believe me,” said Mabel, playfully smug, “I wasn’t going to say a word about it. But you haaaaaad to bring it up again, didn’t you?”

“I have video proof!” shouted Dipper, immediately rummaging through his backpack. “Just as soon! As I find! That stupid! Little!-”

“Ohhhhhhh are you talking about the camera I’m about to throw out the window?” joked the older twin, jiggling the digital camera like it was a set of sleigh bells.

“MABEL!” yelped Dipper. “Give that back!”

“Allriiiiight allriiiiight, hold your horseshoes!” giggled Mabel, giving back the camera. “Last time you were this uptight, it was because you dreamed about-”

Mabel suddenly noticed the amount of sweat on Dipper’s brow, as well as how pale he looked, and how pinpointed his eyes were.

“Oh,” stated Mabel, matter-of-factly. “Bill-Face?”

“Bill-Face,” answered a miserable Dipper, holding his head in his hands in shame.

“Heyyyyy cheer up, buddy-chum-bro-bro,” said Mabel, gently elbowing her brother. “He’s gone, we aren’t, and its winter! And you know what comes with winter, riiiiggghhht?”

Despite his state of patheticness, Dipper couldnt help but smile, knowing exactly what she was going to say.

“Oh gee Mabel,” said Dipper, playing along. “You couldn’t possibly mean-” 

Dipper and Mabel were suddenly very aware that where they were may not be the best place to shout. So instead they balled their fists up Tyler-Cutebiker style and fiercely whispered:

“ᴇxᴛʀᴇᴍᴇ sɴᴏᴡʙᴀʟʟ ʙᴀsʜ ғᴇsᴛ ᴏғ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴡᴇʟᴏsᴛᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ-ᴛᴇᴇɴ!”

…

And then they screamed anyways.

* * *

Before they knew it, Dipper and Mabel were pressing their noses against the window, squealing with delight at the giant sign that read:

WELCOME TO GRAVITY FALLS!

“WE’REHEREWE’REHEREWE’REHEREWE’REHEEEEEEERRREEE!!!” squealed Mabel, jumping up and down, holding Waddles as tightly as she could.      

Dipper quickly settled her down, and began walking in circles and using his fingers to count out a list. “Okay! Grunkle Stan is sure to be waiting for us at the bus stop. What’s the state of the grass?” 

“Covered with snow as white as my sparkling teeth!” answered Mabel, turning back from the window with a pearly white grin to prove her point.

“Status of Waddles?” asked Dipper.

“Fastened!” answered Mabel, a snort from Waddles seconding the motion.

“Cushions packed all around the outermost lair of luggage?” 

“Uh huh!” said Mabel, patting the luggage. “No bones are getting broken today!”

At that answer, Dipper stopped pacing and put his hands down. “Well I think that’s everything!”

“Then Operation Hug is clear for deployment?” asked Mabel, barely holding in her excitement.

Dipper grinned and picked up his luggage. “Operation Hug is clear for deployment, Mabel.”

* * *

“GRUNKLE STAAAAAAAAAAN!!!”

“SWEET HOLY MUSTARD- OOF!!!”

The bus door hadn’t even been open for even a full second, before Stan saw what could only be described as two blurs of pink and brown knocking the wind (and almost his dentures) out of him as he hit and skidded into the soft snow.

“You two are as infuriating as ever and I’m already questioning why I agreed to allow this torture to happen to me for the next month…” wheezed Stanley.

“WE MISSED YOU TOO, GRUNKLE STAN!” yelled Mabel in utter joy.

“Since Day One!” added Dipper, a bright smile lighting up his face

“Yeah yeah that’s great and all, but could you guys get off of your Great Uncle Stan before he freezes to death in the snow?” mumbled Stanley, smiling nonetheless.

“Oh! Sorry!” said the twins, bouncing off of Stan and making him wheeze again. Mabel was quick to hoist Stanley back up, while Dipper brushed off all the snow that was stuck to Stan’s winter garments.

“So, would you say Operation Hug was a success?” Mabel asked Dipper as the trio began to walk towards the Mystery Shack.

“Meh, I’d give it a four out of five,” answered Dipper, thinking out loud. “We did forget to consider the relationship of variables of age vs impact-of-two-fast-moving-objects.”

“If you two are trying to speak in code so that I won’t understand what you’re saying,” said Stan, butting into the conversation, “it’s not gonna work. Seems like my family is constantly forgetting who was responsible for fixing a machine, designed by a genius, that opens a portal to another realm!”

“We just thought that if we coined up a name for our strategic pounce hug, you wouldn’t be as mad at us,” added Dipper.

“It makes total sense!” added Mabel.

“Ah, no!!” shouted Stan in false agony. “7th grade isn’t turning you two into pompous freaks! It’s turning you two into NERDY GEEKS!

“Oooooh I’m gonna add that to my Rhyme Diary!” chirped Mabel, digging into her backpack.

“Would you think any different of us if we were nerdy geeks, Grunkle Stan?” asked Dipper, secretly worried.

“Of COURSE not!” laughed Stan, taking off the child’s lumberjack cap to ruffle up his hair. “Why don’t you give your Grunkle Stan some credit once in a while, kid!?”

Dipper giggled, playfully swatting away the old man’s surprisingly bulky hand, the trio getting very close to the main entrance to the Mystery Shack.

“Yeah I guess I don’t give you enough credit as I should, especially after all that you’ve done for Mabel and I,” said Dipper in thanks. “I know I’ve said it several times by now, but I’m sorry I never trusted you during those final moments of your attempt to rescue Grunkle Ford.”

“Hey I understand. A lot of the evidence you found seemed to suggest that I was planning something horribly evil. I should’ve known you two would try to chase the answer down instead of running away from it,” said Stan, scratching the back of his head in semi-shame.

At this point, the Pines trio was climbing the steps to the entrance of the Gift Shop. Mabel was wearing the biggest grin she could muster. 

 “But hey, now that you two have enough experience living with me,” said Stanley, fishing for his keys, “you should know that I have nothing else left to hide from you kids!”

**_CRAAAASSSSHHHHH!!!!_ **

“OH GOD I CAN’T LET THE KIDS SEE THIS!!!” shouted Stan, abandoning his search for the keys to revert to pounding on the door instead. “OPEN UP THIS DOOR! OPEN IT!”

Dipper and Mabel swapped awkward glances at each other before returning their focus to Stan, who was currently hollering alternatives-to-curse-words at an inanimate wooden rectangle. 

“Grunkle Stan…” said Dipper, his senses of accusation rising. “What’s going on?”

“Have you tried saying that one word that we practiced for two weeks over the Summer?!” Mabel called out to Stan, not noticing Dippers discomfort with the new situation.

“WHAT?!” barked Stan, before fully processing what Mabel was referring to. “Oh… ugh… _that.”_

Stanley returned his attention to the door. “Ahem… OPEN UP THIS STUPID WOODEN SLAB!!!”

Dipper and Mabel cringed, fearing the worst.

…

“please,” coughed Stan.

The doorknob shifted. 

Dipper and Mabel huddled close to Stan, readying their luggage for defense.

The door opened to reveal…

A young child. A young child with a blue and purple striped sweater. They were short, had tan skin, donned a messy bob cut, and wore a familiarly stoic expression.

The Twins were rooted to the wooden floorboards.

“Frisk Dreemurr?!” shouted Dipper, helplessly unable to lower his voice in the current situation.

“Frisk Dreemurr…” whispered Mabel, in complete awe of the child she had given the status of celebrity in her own head.

A ghost of a smile crossed the face of the young Frisk.

“How’s it hangin’?” asked the child.

“Kid, you’re way too young to be sayin’ that stuff. That’s old-man language.” grumbled Stanley Pines.

Clearing his throat, Stanley continued. “Kids, meet the apparent savior of monster kind. Apparent savior of monster kind, meet the kids,” said Stan, gesturing accordingly.

“Dipper and Mabel?” guessed Frisk, speaking to the twins.

“Th-That’s us,” stuttered Dipper.

“I saw you in a neeewspapeeeer…” whispered Mabel.

The new child grew a gentle smile on their face. “Stanley told me you two were going to be here for all of winter break?”

“Yes…” said Dipper, growing suspicious, darting his eyes about at nothing in particular. “Why? Why is… isthatnotthecaseanymore? Or something…?”

“Oh for pity’s sake, let me back in my house!” snapped Stan. “It’s cold out here, and I don’t wanna have to be sending two life sized ice sculptures to bed when the sun goes down!”

“Right, sorry sir,” replied Frisk, opening the door all the way and allowing the Pines family back inside.

The first thing Dipper noticed, unsettled him to say the least.

“UNDEAD SKELETON!” he shrieked, searching the gift shop for a mounted axe.

“HEY! I SAID NO TOUCHING THE MERCHANDISE!” roared Stan. 

“Why is it wearing clothes?” was all Mabel had to say.

But Frisk didn’t answer. They were starting to worry about Stan and Dipper, who were both aggressively heading towards the skeleton’s direction.

“YOU ALMOST TRASHED MY SUPPLY OF GLASS SHARDS- shoot- ICICLES!” hollered Stanley, getting dangerously close,while Dipper was following behind with what appeared to be a stick. “HEY!!!” continued Stan, “I’M TALKING TO YOU, NO EYES!!! PUT DOWN THAT SNOWGLOBE!!!

Frisk immediately threw themself between the two aggressive Pines members and the skeleton.

“It would be much easier to just speak to him!” chided Frisk, earning themself a look of confusion from Dipper and Stan.

“Papyrus, please put the snowglobe down,” said Frisk to the Skeleton. “If it breaks, Mr. Stan might tell us to leave, and we don’t want to leave yet.”

The Skeleton, apparently named Papyrus, halted his shaking of the round object to look at Frisk.

“AAAH YEEEEEEESSSSS! SHOWING COURTESY, EVEN AS A GUEST! YOU’RE ALWAYS FULL OF SMART IDEAS, HUMAN!” shouted Papyrus, with a voice that immediately reminded the twins of Quentin Trembley. 

“It _talks_?!” said Dipper, flabbergasted.

Frisk glared at the younger twin sibling. “ _HE_  does talk. And luckily, he is never aware when someone is being rude to him. I would like him to stay that way, so stop being mean to him. And don’t be mean to any of the other monsters.”

Dipper was beginning to not like this Frisk, savior or not. Excuuuuusse him for wanting to protect his family. Sure, everyone just had to make Dipper the bad guy. No. Matter. What.

“WELL SINCE IT IS IN MY NATURE TO STRIVE TO BE THE BEST AT EVERYTHING, INCLUDING GUEST ETIQUETTE,” announced Papyrus, “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GENTLY PUT THIS ENTICING ‘SNOWGLOBE’ BACK ON THE SHELF, AND REVERT TO SIMPLY EXAMINING ALL THESE INTRICATE OBJECTS!”

“Thank you, Papyrus,” said Frisk, as the skeleton placed the delicate knick-knack back.

“Oh,” said Stanley in a blunt tone. “I guess its just that simple, huh? Hey, why don’t I try that on my cell mates next time I find myself in jail? I bet it’ll work reeeeaaallll well.”

“Of course it won’t,” answered Frisk. “Not unless you befriend them first.”

“Well how do you befriend someone who’s trying to kill you?” asked Dipper, in an attempt to challenge the kid.

“Flirting usually works,” answered Frisk.

The Pines trio burst out laughing. Frisk did not understand why the trio found their honest answer to be funny.

“I’m so sorry, Frisk,” said Mabel, joining in on the conversation while Papyrus left the humans so he could gaze at the fabrics.

“Sorry for what?” replied Frisk.

“Let’s just say you don’t look like much for flirt material,” continued Mabel. “Adorable material? Absolutely! Flirt material? Ehhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Frisk ignored a voice in their head telling them they should feel insulted.

“Mostly it’s because of your face,” analyzed Mabel. “I cant take you seriously at all with that serious expression of yours. Weird, right?” 

Mabel giggled while Frisk remained silent.

“Are you implying that the squinting of my eyes don’t help me see well?” asked Frisk.

“I never said that,” confessed Mabel. “Though now I’m curious. Do you wear glasses?”

“No.”

“Do you want glasses?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

“That doesn’t matter. But in the future, one of them will be holding up a diamond ring, and our names will be on it.”

Mabel’s eyes popped, her face becoming as red as Wendy’s hair.

“Oh dearie me this kid is good,” said the stunned girl.

“Wow, this child is gifted. If I was still running this place, I would totally be using this to my advantage. ‘Behold, the World’s Youngest Sweet-Talker,’” Stan thought out loud.

“Where are the brass knuckles?” muttered Dipper to himself.

“Wooaaaahh ease up there champ,” said a women’s voice from behind Dipper. “No reason to get up in arms over a little charm. Pfft, forgive the rhyme.”

Dipper turned around to see someone he had been wanting to see since Mrs. Pines shared the news. She had long red hair, a green-checkered long-sleeve button-down shirt, worn out jeans, dirty work boots, and a white and blue cap, with a label shaped like a pine tree.

“Wendy!” Dipper shouted with joy.

“The one and only!” replied Wendy Corduroy. “Get over here so I can mess up your hair!”

“ _You_ come over here so I can steal back that cap!” joyfully bantered Dipper.

The two friends hugged it out, playfully calling names and gently roughhousing. Eventually hats were traded, and Dipper was reunited with the cap that gave him the name Pine Tree.

_Pine Tree…-_

_None of that! Nope!_ thought Dipper. _I’m home, he’s gone, and that’s all that matters!_  

Home. That was a nice way to put it. Even with this new kid Frisk, along with who knows how many monsters are living under this roof, Dipper and Mabel… were Home.

“Anyways, I’ve come to deliver the goods,” said Wendy, turning around to heft up a decently sized box.

“What’s in it?” asked Dipper.

“Just a bunch of directional signs,” said Stan, taking the box from Wendy. “The same ones I had you carry around during your first week! Wasn’t that the time your arm spelled out BEWARB?” 

“Yeeeaahhhh it waaassss, thanks for bringing that up, Grunkle Stan…” said Dipper, feeling embarrassed because he remembered Wendy was there too. He subconsciously began rubbing his left arm. “Soooooooo why do you need them?”

“Soos is taking Old Man Stan’s job one step further, by keeping the shop open during winter break,” explained Wendy. “I don’t mind, business is usually slow after Christmas, so I don’t feel too stressed out.”

“Because of that,” explained Stan, “Soos wanted to have the signs fit the theme of winter, instead of summer. I dunno how he managed to get this white wood. I was convinced he painted them, but he would just laugh.”

“You expect the dude to share all his secrets?” asked a smug Wendy.

“Well yeah! I was boss before him, and I shared with him all of my secrets!”

“Oh really? Mr. Stan _ford_?” reminded Wendy.

“Oh. Yeah. Nevermind. I plead Guilty,” admitted Stan in defeat. “Hey Dipper! Hows about you give Grunkle Stan a hand with mounting these signs up? Like old times!”

“Waitwaitwaitwait,” said Dipper, realization dawning on him, a smirk beginning develop. “Are you seriously taking orders from Soos?! Myyyyy how the tables have turned!”

“You keep that attitude up,” threatened Stan, “and I’ll have you doing this by yourself with a can of Pitt Cola lodged down your throat.”

“Yeah! Sure! I’ll join ya!” blurted Dipper, nervously laughing. But then he looked over to Frisk and Mabel… _conversing._

“Hey,” said Wendy, noticing Dipper’s shift in attitude. “If it makes ya feel better, I’ll keep an eye on these two while you’re running your quick little errand.”

“Thanks Wendy,” said Dipper with a warm smile. 

As Stan and Dipper were about to head out, Dipper and Frisk made eye contact with each other.

Dipper stuck out two fingers, pointed them to his eyes, then pointed them to Frisk.

Frisk pointed to themself, then switched it into an O.K. sign.

With the silent conversation over, Dipper left the shack.

* * *

“Ugh! Stupid Dipper! Stupid, Stupid Dipper!” Dipper cursed to himself as he mounted his sixth sign onto a tree.

“What’s eating away at ya, kiddo?” asked Stan, already up to his twentieth sign. 

“It’s Frisk!” answered Dipper in frustration.

“Really?” said Stan in surprise. “Jeez kid come on, I had this whole joke set up about monsters eating you, and you go and tell me that monsters aren’t the problem and instead it’s the eleven year old _c_ _hild?_ ”

“I feel so stupid!” continued Dipper, ignoring Stan’s bewilderment. “I told Mabel to talk to them, and it turns out the kid is a master of flirtation?! At eleven years old?!”

 _“That’s_ what you’re concerned about?” said Stanley. “Kid, I’ve seen you do calculus equations at _twelve_ years old.”

“What good does that prove? Great Uncle Ford was probably doing the same thing at a similar age! And yet, Frisk is a flirt master, at _eleven_ , and exceeds extraordinarily at it, compared to you, a man who is in his Sixties! I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW NOBODY FINDS THIS KID CREEPY!” 

“You’re just being paranoid,” said Stan, readying hammer and nail on tree number twenty one. “Give the kid a couple days and I’m, sure you’ll realize that there’s nothing to worry about.” He began to bring the hammer down. “Besides-”

**CLAAAAAANNNNNNNGGGGGG!**

“What in the world…?” asked Stan. “Is this tree trunk made of titanium or something?”

“I know that sound…” said Dipper. “Grunkle Stan, I’d like to introduce you to the hiding spot of Journal Number Three.”

“So this is where it all started for you, huh?” said Stan. “Alright, kid. Enlighten me.”

“Observe,” said Dipper, finding the crease of the fake tree trunk and opening it.

“Wow,” pondered Stan. “Thirty plus years, and my brother is still surprising me with his ideas.”

“And now I just tap this little fellow right here,” Dipper spoke as he switched the appropriate lever, “And watch the ground for snow to shift.”

Sure enough, to Dipper’s left and Stan’s right, a mound of snow shifted and sank.

“And there ya have it!” concluded Dipper, marching over to the snow dent. “The secret compartment for Grunkle Ford’s Third Journal! Just let me scoop up the snow.”

Dipper began digging up the snow, and eventually dug up enough to reveal-

 

 

_another journal._

“What the…?” Dipper quietly asked, lifting up the new book. It looked shabby, had a black cover, and lacked a six fingered hand for a symbol.

“Wow, that’s quite the weird find, Dipper,” said Stan. “Certainly doesn’t belong to Stanford, that’s for sure.”

“How did somebody else find the secret compartment?” asked Dipper. “Strange…”

“Welp, you found buried treasure in the shape of another book,” joked Stan. “Seems the universe believes you are destined to be as geeky as my own brother. Go on and keep it! Finders Keepers, right?”

“I dunno…” said Dipper, scratching his head. “I guess the least I could do is read it.”

Dipper turned the cover page. Like Stanford’s writing, it was pretty messy. The youngest Pine member squinted slightly and began to read aloud…

* * *

**_i had feared the worst, and it would seem that those fears have come true._ **

**_i have been told that there was a time when gravity falls was known for the strange and unusual. that is, before something, someone, somehow ended whatever was causing these claims, allowing gravity falls to become like the rest of oregon: normal. boring. safe. of course, nobody in this stinking town will say anything in detail. something about never mind all that. if they knew the truth, if they would’ve just listened, they wouldn’t dare keep their secrets locked away.  
_ **

**_gravity falls is not normal. gravity falls is not safe. not anymore._ **

**_i see the signs everywhere. things ive never seen before, and monsters that aren’t from the underground. i see ships in the sky disappear with a single blink. i see the shadows of monsters perched in the trees all over the town, leaping from place to place at night. i even see a faint glimpse of death himself, making his nightly rounds._ **

**_but knowing the signs doesn’t matter. what does matter is that i know what is causing the signs._ **

**_this is all happening because of a time flux. and i know exactly who is causing it._ **

**_i must keep the name a mystery, just as i shall do with my name as the author of this journal. all that matters is that knowing the identity of the one responsible for the time flux fills me with such sadness and anger that i cannot reveal my findings to anyone._ **

**_but, i believe i have a plan to stop this. i’ve heard about a spot that is unstable the most, and it happens to be the same place that holds the key to my victory. if i wish to end the time flux, my best bet would be to execute my plan in that same spot. only problem is that the key is inactive. when it begins to glow, it will be active, and i will be ready. if i can gather enough research, and if i just have a little patience, maybe everything can finally go back to normal…_ **

**_but for now, i must protect myself by writing all my unusual findings in this journal. i fear that time and space is warping more and more, so if i should begin to lose my memory, ill have this book to warn me all over again. now that i think about it, i should also make sure to make at least one extra copy. who knows what could happen in this town…_ **

**_end of log._ **

* * *

“PFFFFFFFFFHAAAAAAAHAAAAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAA!” howled Stanley. “Wow, if that isn’t a cruel joke to end all cruel jokes! I love it!”

“B-B-But what if it’s real?!” panicked Dipper. “We have to warn the town!”

“Dipper, kiddo, don’t tense up over what could just as well be a prank,” said Stan, ruffling up the young one’s hair. “I promise you, Gravity Fall’s weirdness is still the usual weirdness, no new creeps. Just Gnomes, Manotaurs, and-”

“sup?”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!” screamed the Pines, falling backwards in the snow.

Right in front of them was a short stout figure. it was plump, hand its hands in its pockets, and was wearing pink slippers, black sweat shorts, a white undershirt, and a blue hoodie. but the most startling detail was that this figure was-

“ANOTHER UNDEAD SKELETON!!!” wailed Dipper, backing up as far away as he could.

“AAARRRGH!” shouted Stan in annoyance. “God BLESS it, Sans! You almost gave us _both_ a heart attack!”

“heh. sorry, not sorry,” said Sans.

“Where the heck did he even come from?!” spluttered Dipper, regaining his footing and demanding an explanation. “He was just… THERE!”

“i think you’re just bein’ silly, kid. can i call ya kid? that’s what i’m gonna call ya.”

“It’s Dipper!” shouted the younger Pines member.

“You _really_ shouldn’t have told him your name, kiddo,” muttered Stan. 

“awww why not, gramps?” asked the weird skeleton. “is it because you don’t wanna hear my jokes?”

“Saaaaaannnnns…”

“well jeez, that kinda makes me…”

“Dooooooonnnnnn’t-”

“super _dipper_ essed!”

*badum-tccchhh*

 

“Dipper, we’re going home,” demanded Stanley, taking Dipper by the hand.

“see ya back at the mystery shack!” said the skeleton, going further and further away.

“God I hate that guy’s lack of guts,” spat Stan.

* * *

Dipper brought out the mysterious book, after everybody had gone to bed. He examined the first log over and over.

“Gravity Falls is not safe… not anymore…” Dipper quietly read aloud, against Mabel’s gentle snores. “But why…?”

“Who’s the author? Who’s causing the time flux? Someone with time flux effects must have had some…I dunno, time accident happen or something… who here is most likely to have experienced tha-”

He was certain that the short skeleton showed up out of nowhere…

Dipper already had a prime candidate. Now he just needed the evidence. He’d need to get up extra early to-

“ _Cmon Dipper. It’s Winter Break! Let’s_ both _live it up a little.”_

_…_

_“_ Right…” pondered Dipper, “the author said that nothing will happen for a while… not until the key glows… whatever the heck that key is… I guess I might as well enjoy the break for now.” 

Dipper shut off the reading lamp and whispered a “Goodnight, Mabel,” earning a mumble in reply.

Dipper enjoyed a nice Bill-free dream that night.

* * *

_Feel free to explore a place multiple times, even if you think you know a place inside and out. One day, you may discover something that you’ve never seen before._

* * *

## QSBKT1VSTkFMIElTIEZPVU5ECkFOIEFVVEhPUiBVTktOT1dOCklUJ1MgRU5PVUdIIFRPIEdJVkUgWU9VIENISUxMUwpSSUdIVCBET1dOIFRPIFRIRSBCT05F


	3. Getting to Know New Friends

“Hey,” said Wendy, noticing Dipper’s shift in attitude. “If it makes ya feel better, I’ll keep an eye on these two while you’re running your quick little errand.”

“Thanks Wendy,” said Dipper with a warm smile.

As Stan and Dipper were about to head out, Dipper and Frisk made eye contact with each other.

Dipper stuck out two fingers, pointed them to his eyes, then pointed them to Frisk.

Frisk pointed to themself, then switched it into an O.K. sign.

With the silent conversation over, Dipper left the shack.

“How about I take care of the luggage,” Wendy suggested to Mabel, setting Waddles free and picking up the bags before someone could say otherwise. “I’ll start unpacking. But this is only because you and Dipper are special. Don’t think I’m gonna be doing this all the time.”

“Thanks Wendy!” shouted Mabel, with Wendy already heading upstairs.

…

“SO!” shouted Mabel, slightly startling Frisk. “Show me your collection!”

* * *

##  **_[GravityTale](http://teffyjeffy.tumblr.com/post/141345215646/gravitytale-with-whisper) _ **

* * *

“My what?” asked Frisk, confused.

“Your collection!” Mabel repeated, smiling. “Of sweaters!”

Frisk looked down at their own sweater and quietly stated, almost out of embarrassment, “…This is the only one I have.”

“WHAAAAAAAAAT?!” shrieked Mabel, accidentally startling Waddles, who was nestled near the cash register. 

“Is that… a bad thing?” asked Frisk.

“It’s an ATROCITY!!!” barked Mabel, jabbing a finger at Frisk.

“But I like the colors…” mumbled Frisk.

“Oooooh I really like them too, they blend very well together, very calming combination, BUT!” continued Mabel after a quiet string of compliments, “You can’t own only one sweater! Sweaters are part of a family! You mean to tell me this sweater isn’t part of a collection?! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THIS SWEATER DOESN’T HAVE A FAMILY?!”

Whatever way Mabel was expecting Frisk to respond to that outburst, laughing was super low on the list. And yet, there they were, looking away, putting a hand to their mouth, and trying to withhold a fit of giggles.

“You think this is funny?” asked Mabel, not knowing what else to say. “You find the misery of a lonely sweater to be funny?!”

“No, no, not at all!” answered Frisk, still trying to control their chuckling. “It’s just- hee hee- most people would just tell me to get a collection. Nobody ever- pfft- worded it like you did. It was refreshing! It was funny! It was…cute,” they finished, looking away.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” said Mabel, hands on her hips despite the smile on her face. “Even if you’re a savior of an entire race from underground.” 

“I USED TO THINK THAT!” piped up Papyrus, trying to solve a runic tablet without touching it. “BUT THEN THE HUMAN LURED ME INTO A TRAP KNOWN AS DATING!”

 _“Dating?!”_ asked Mabel, snorting with laughter. “Frisk, you dated Papyrus?!”

“Yes,” bluntly answered Frisk. “And although his feelings ended up not being as strong as mine, the date was still pretty awesome. I learned a lot. Like how humans descended from skeletons.”

“You seem to be very open to whatever is thrown at you,” Mabel deduced out loud. “I like you, Frisk! You’re cool in my book! Ooh! Speaking of book, say cheese!”

“Huh?”

CLICK! FLASH! whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

Though Frisk’s expression never changed, their sway of movement heavily suggested that they had been blinded by Mabel’s camera. 

“WOO!” shouted Mabel. “This is going in the “First Photo” pile! Right next to the photo of Grunkle Stan scaring Dipper with a monster mask! Good times!”

“Ah right, about your brother…” said Frisk, beginning to sweat a little bit, “I don’t think he likes me… at all.”

“Dipper?” asked Mabel, playfully scoffing. “He’s just being the overprotective brother that he’s used to being.”

“But I’m just a child,” stated Frisk.

“With ridiculously good pick-up lines,” pointed out Mabel.

Frisk blushed. “I-its a bad habit I picked up…”

“PFFT! Yeah, sure, call it a ‘bad habit,’” snorted Mabel, using air quotes, “But I, on the other hand, would call it a blessing!”

“Your brother certainly wouldn’t call it that.”

“Dipper, Schmipper!” yelled Mabel. “…Don’t tell him I said that, he’ll probably burst into tears and lock himself up in the bedroom we share, and I would have to sleep by the door.” 

“Understood, ma’am,” replied Frisk.

“’Ma’am?’” said Mabel, slightly shocked. “You’re smooth _and_  chivalrous? Frisk! How do you weave such strings?”

Frisk looked embarrassed and nervous. “I dunno… I k- I kinda just….say stuff? I guess…?”

“However, there is still that one thing we need to fix about you,” added Mabel, barely acknowledging Frisk’s answer of uncertainty.

“What’s that?” asked the younger child.

“Sweater collection,” said Mabel, strictly. “You need one. Now.”

 Frisk stood rigid. “How soon is n-”

But Mabel had already snatched Frisk by the arm and was hauling them up the stairs.

* * *

“Could you be just a little more careful next time?” asked Frisk, now in Dipper and Mabel’s bedroom, all of their stuff unpacked.

“Careful is kinda overrated,” responded Mabel, knitting remarkably fast, “unless your life depends on it.”

“You trampled the Mad Dummy,” stated Frisk, watching Mabel at work.

“I was wondering why that oversized doll shouted at me when I bumped into it,” admitted Mabel, not looking up.

Frisk remained silent while Mabel continued knitting a purple sweater with a red heart in the middle.

“You’re super fast at this,” remarked Frisk.

“Thanks!“ responded Mabel. “The knitting teacher I had in Middle School Home Ec class was a strict, stubborn, and loud woman. But above all that, she was passionate. I always believed she used to be a female soldier in the military before she became a teacher.” 

“Huh,” replied Frisk. “Did the same teacher teach cooking?: 

“Yep!” replied Mabel, still knitting. “That was the day that Mabel Juice was born!” 

“Did the teacher tell you to treat the ingredients like enemies on the battle field?” asked Frisk.

“No, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I sure wish she had!” replied a laughing Mabel. “What teacher told you to do that?”

**“DON’T WORRY ALPHYS! ILL PROTECT YOU FROM THE SASCROTCH! NGGAAAAAAAAHHHH!”**

“That would be her,” said Frisk, darting for the door.

“Wait!” said Mabel, before stuffing the finished sweater over the child’s head. “Okay let’s go!”

* * *

Mabel was intrigued at the two figures she and Frisk found when they dashed through the museum entrance. There was a human sized lizard, with a lab coat, glasses, and a case of the shivers. Next to the lizard was a fish-person hybrid, with a red pony tail, a glowing cyan spear in her left hand, a black eye patch over her left eye, and bright yellow teeth. And she looked ready to demolish the Sascrotch exhibit.

“WAIT!” cried out Mabel and Frisk, running closer to the fish lady. The sea-woman darted towards the sound, the spear now pointing at the kids. All three lung-breathing creatures shrieked in alarm. A second later, the spear vanished, the fish smiling brightly.

“Oh, its just you, punk! Who’s your friend?”

“Hi! I’m Mabel,” said Mabel in an attempt to let herself forget that a spear was being aimed at her mere seconds ago.

“Nice to meet you!” said the fish lady in a booming voice. “Name’s Undyne.”

“Coooooooool!” said Mabel, not noticing her new friend begin to get a little nervous.

“Mabel’s with me,” said Frisk, just in case things got ugly. “She’s my new friend.”

“M-Mabel Pines?!” the lizard finally speaking up. “Your Great Uncle said so much about you! W-would you be able to answer a c-couple questions?”

“Who’s askin’?” responded Mabel, faking a pompous attitude.

“A-Alphys,” responded the female lizard. “Former s-scientist, and-”

“CURRENT SUPER SPECIAL AMAZING GIRLFRIEND OF MEEEEEEEEE!” exploded Undyne, beaming. “SO IF YOU TALK SCRAP ABOUT HER, I’LL MOUNT YOUR HEAD ON A COAT RACK! Isn’t that right, babe?.”

Alphys was currently shaking and blushing heavily, her nose showing faint amounts of red liquid. “I d-don’t think violence is always the best s-solution, b-b-but thank you for c-caring about me enough to do that!”

“You two are a couple?” asked a surprised Mabel, “That’s so cute!”

“Pfft. I beg your pardon?” scoffed Undyne. “For your information, I AM SMOKIN’ HOT!!! Only Alphys can call me cute anyways,” finished Undyne, somewhat shy.

“Undyne,” said Frisk, calmly, despite the fact that they were shaking. “I politely ask that you please tone down the energy levels around Mabel right now. You might be scaring her.”

“Hey!” chimed in Mabel. “I’m the epitomy of energy! And besides, I’m not scared of Undyne! She’s so sweet! Besides, I have seen many horrifying creatures!”

“What?!” said Frisk, never remembering Stan talk about the twins face off against monsters.

“That’s right!” continued Mabel, proudly, “And Undyne isn’t nearly as scary as any of them!”

Undyne snarled. “Care to elaborate that statement you little ra-”

“BECAUSEYOUAREBILLIONTIMESMORESCARYTHANTHEYARE!” blurted Frisk.

“What?!” said Mabel.

“Huh?” said Alphys.

“That’s what I thought,” said Undyne.

“Also, if I may,” continued Frisk, taking Mabel by the hand and slowly backing away. “You did a great job at killing that Sasquatch!”

 _“Sascrotch!”_ corrected Undyne and Mabel.

“Yeah, that!” continued the child. “You scared it to death! Listen to it! It isn’t breathing!”

“Th-they’re right, Undyne!” added Alphys. “If y-you look closely, the creature’s chest isn’t moving! ᴏғᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇɪᴛᴡᴀsɴᴇᴠᴇʀᴀʟɪᴠᴇᴛᴏʙᴇɢɪɴᴡɪᴛʜʙᴜᴛɪᴡᴏᴜʟᴅɴᴛsᴀʏᴛʜᴀᴛʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇɪʟᴏᴠᴇʏᴏᴜsᴏᴍᴜᴄʜᴡʜᴇɴʏᴏᴜʀᴇᴄᴏɴғɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪɴʏᴏᴜʀᴀᴛᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛsᴛᴏᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛᴍᴇᴡʜᴀᴛᴅɪᴅɪᴇᴠᴇʀᴅᴏᴛᴏᴅᴇsᴇʀᴠᴇʏᴏᴜ”

“YEEEEAAAAAHHH, TAKE THAT, SASCROTCH!” shouted Undyne, picking up the squealing Alphys and holding her in a pre-suplex stance.

By that point, Frisk had managed to get themself and Mabel out of the room.

* * *

When Frisk and Mabel crossed from the gift shop over to the living room, Mabel halted her own movement, as well as Frisk’s.

“What was _that_ for?!” snapped Mabel, swatting away Frisk’s arm. 

“It was for your life!” retorted Frisk. “You were dangerously close to getting skewered by one of the strongest creatures in the Underground!”

“I would’ve been able to handle myself!” said Mabel, glaring at Frisk.

“You would’ve been _dead!_ ” insisted the child.

“FRISK! DREEMUR!” boomed a new voice from behind the two children.

Mabel turned around and looked up to see a giant, furry, goat-person. It had robes and eyelashes. The eyelashes and the voice helped Mabel deduce that the creature was female. And she was very, _VERY,_ cross with Mabel’s new companion. 

“…Yes mom?” responded Frisk, sheepishly.

Mabel could no longer compute.

“If you aren’t going to be friendly to the residents of this household,” continued the apparent Mother of Frisk, “then perhaps we should leave!”

“Nonono don’t do that!” Mabel butted in, “They meant well! And they have been very nice to me since we met!” 

The Goat Woman acknowledged Mabel for a couple seconds, before turning back to Frisk, her gaze softening. 

“Is this true, what the young woman says?” she asked.

“Yes Ms. Toriel,” responded Frisk.

“Yes _who,_ my child?” asked Toriel, smiling warmly.

“Yes Mom,” corrected Frisk, smiling and blushing.

“Alright then. I suppose all can be forgiven…” said Toriel, returning to look at Mabel.

Toriel’s face turned into one for adoration of a puppy.

“And THIS must be Mabel Pines!” she cooed, walking briskly to get a closer look at the new child.

“H-hi!” said Mabel, frozen stiff. “Y-y-you’re… Frisk’s Mom?”

“Adoptive mother, young one,” said Toriel, chuckling.

“Ohhhhhhhh,” said Mabel, growing silent…

Before her grin became so wide it took up most of her lower face.

“FRISK YOU HAVE THE COOLEST LOOKING MOTHER EVAAAAAAR! I WANNA HUG THE GOAT MOM! LEMME HUG THE GOAT MOM! MABEL WANT GOAT MOM HUGS!”

“My my, you are an excited little one, aren’t you?” said Toriel. “Of course I can give you a hug!”

“Yesssssss!” cheered Mabel, launching herself into Toriel’s warm comfortable arms.

“So you made friends with Frisk, have you?” noted Toriel.

“Yep!” said Mabel, her energy refusing to go down despite her being curled up into a ball in the middle of the best hug in the history of hugs.

“They’re very friendly and thoughtful and open to interpretation when it comes to new things!” said Mabel.

Toriel chuckled. “Indeed they are! Did Frisk ever mention to you that before they called me ‘Mother,’ they were flirting with me?”

“MOM!” hollered Frisk, developing a sudden urge to just crawl into a hole and wail with embarrassment.

“I won’t ever let you forget it, my child!” said Toriel laughing.

“Ha ha yeah! Neither will I, now that I know about it!” added Mabel!

“Noooooo…” said Frisk, hiding in their new sweater.

“Uh oh, Frisk just took a bus to Sweatertown!” laughed Mabel.

“Frisk, I promise we’re done embarrassing you!” said Toriel, gently setting Mabel down. “You can come out!”

“No,” said the muffled voice of Frisk.

“Come on!” coaxed Mabel.

“No. I wanna feel like garbage,” said Frisk.

“Honey, you are way too young to be thinking like Napstablook. Come on out,” said Toriel.

“Who’s Napstablook?” whispered Mabel.

“Friendly ghost,” mumbled Frisk.

“How could you hear me?!” said Mabel.

“Your voice is difficult to ignore…”

 _“FRISK!”_ chided Toriel.

“Imeantthatinagoodway…” admitted Frisk.

“ _Again_ with the pointless flirting?!” said Mabel. “Maybe you _deserve_ to be in sweater town!”

“frisk is doing what now?” said a voice from behind Mabel.

“Why if it isn’t Sans!” said Toriel, Mabel jumping back when she saw the short skeleton.

“that’s my name,” said Sans. “where’s the fire?”

“I’m afraid we may have broken Frisk,” admitted Toriel.

“Yep! Frisk’s status is officially PTHBPT!” said Mabel, blowing a short raspberry.

“heh. nice one,” commented Sans, before returning to Frisk. “hey, kid, why don’t you come on out? your mom and girlfriend want to see ya”

“GIRLFRIEND?!” snorted Mabel. “Nawwwwww we’re not- I mean- PFFFT!”

“im just messin with ya,” said Sans chuckling. “seemed to get the kid out of their woolen shell though.”

Sure enough, Frisk had finally returned to the land of the living, despite their face being decorated with a blush and a pout. 

“Welcome baaaaaaaaaack!” sang Mabel, leaping out of Toriel’s arms to kneel down to Frisk. “How was your trip?”

“Kind of itchy…” replied Frisk.

“You get used to it in a couple days,” said Mabel. “You should’ve seen Dipper when he tried one of my sweaters. He was convinced he had contracted a disease!”

The whole living room was filled with giggles and chuckles

* * *

“Mabel? Wendy?” called Dipper, opening the door to the gift shop, Stan a couple steps behind him. “We’re back!”

“WELCOME BACK, LITTLE HUMAN!” shouted Papyrus, scaring Dipper for a second time.

“I’m not little,” muttered Dipper.

“I HEARD YOUR TRIP WAS QUITE EVENTFUL!” continued Papyrus. “AND YOU APPARENTLY MET MY LOVABLE LAZYBONES BROTHER, SANS!”

“How did you figure that out?” asked Dipper.

“EASY! SANS TOLD ME ABOUT IT WHEN HE RETURNED! RIGHT BEFORE HEADING TO YOUR ‘LIVING ROOM!’”

“Wait, he got here before _us?!?!”_ shouted Dipper.

“Wait, he decided to go into an EMPLOYEES ONLY ROOM WITHOUT TELLING ME FIRST?!” yelled Stan.

“hey stan,” called Sans from afar. “im in your living room, watching a marathon of ‘fish hooks.’”

“I don’t know how much longer I can stand these new living conditions,“ said Stan.

“Seriously!!!” exclaimed Dipper. “HOW DID HE GET BACK BEFORE WE DID?!”

“Oh hi, Dipper!” called Mabel, coming from the living room, Frisk following closeby. Dipper noticed that the kid had on a new sweater, and that it looked way too uncomfortable temperature-wise, given that Frisk’s forehead was beginning to shine.

“Hi Mabel! Hi Frisk…”

“Whaddup, bro!” said Mabel, waving.

‘Yeah. Whaddup,” said Frisk, in an attempt to copy Mabel. 

“Mabel,” said Dipper, “It seems the warmth of your new sweater is starting to get to Frisk.”

“Huh?” said Mabel, looking to Frisk to observe their state. “Oh wow. Yeah they do look pretty miserable. Hey Frisk, how about you go to the Mystery Twins Bedroom and get that overheating fabric off.”

“I like that idea. Thank you,” said Frisk, before charging through the living room and heading up the stairs.

“Mabel!” said Dipper, appalled. “Since when was Frisk allowed in our room!”

“Since half an hour ago,” said Mabel, happily. “Isn’t it great?”

“No! It’s not great!” said Dipper, getting agitated. “It’s hard enough having them in the same house. I am not sharing our own room with-”

“Hey what’s that in your vest pocket?” asked Mabel.

“Very funny Mabel,” deadpanned Dipper. “I’m not going to fall for-”

“No, really,” said Mabel. “What is that black thing in your vest pocket?”

“OH!” said Dipper, reaching for his pocket…

Before remembering that they both were next to the living room. Which was being occupied by _Sans._  

“Heyyyyy you know what? I’m feeling kinda hungry after that errand of mine!” said Dipper, grabbing Mabel’s hand. “How about we get something to eat!”

“Dipper, you’re really weirding out your sister right now,” said Mabel.

“I think I’ll get something from the _Vending Machine_!” continued Dipper, hoping Mabel will get the point. According to her eyes widening, she did.

Sans was sleeping anyways.

* * *

“I think you’re being a little harsh on Frisk,” commented Mabel, while she and Dipper were in the lift. “I thought you were all about me meeting new people!”

“That was before Frisk revealed themself to be a total creep!” replied Dipper.

“They are NOT a creep!” defended Mabel.

“Yes they are!” insisted Dipper. “They had the guts to flirt with you! About marriage! At eleven years old!”

“First of all, flirting is a lot less creepier than whispering your secrets to a crush way too loudly for them not to hear it. Second, Gideon Gleeful did far worse things at age ten than Frisk is doing at age eleven. Third, two words! Lamby! Dance!”

“If the Lamby Dance is my fate, then that’s what it shall be! I don’t want either of us to have anything to do with Frisk! And that is final!”

“ALRIGHT, YOU LISTEN HERE, LITTLE DIPPER!” barked Mabel, scaring the voice out of Dipper.

“You allowed me to try hanging out with Gideon, who turned out to be psycho. You allowed me to try to impress Gabe, who turned out to be schizophrenic. But you’re gonna draw the line at a supportive, kind, pure child, just because they FLIRT?!”

“Well jeez Mabel, when you put it like that…” mumbled Dipper.

“Now, here’s what’s gonna happen!” announced Mabel, jabbing her finger at Dipper’s chest. “WE are going to go on an adventure tomorrow, FRISK is going to come with us, we’re ALL going to have fun, and _THAT_ IS FINAL!”

“Okay! Okay!” hollered Dipper, shielding himself. “I’ll do it!”

“Eeeeeeeee thank you bro-bro!” said Mabel, her temper vanishing. “You’re the best!”

“I hope so…” muttered Dipper to himself.

* * *

The lift opened up to Ford’s private study. As Dipper was hoping, there was Ford, visible to the eyes of the twins.

But he seemed to be sitting down at a desk, with a tea cup, engaging in conversation with a… Goat Man.

“GOAT DAD?!” Mabel squealed, taking Dipper by surprise.

The genius and the goat man turned towards the source of the sound, the former growing a bright, warm smile.

“Mabel! Dipper!” said Grunkle Ford, greeting the twins with open arms.

The twins almost knocked him out of his seat.

The other creature chuckled. “I take it these are the young ones that your brother spoke of?”

“That they are, Asgore,” said a laughing Ford. “And as you can see, they’re a bit much to handle!”

“You’re just saying that!” said a giggling Mabel.

Dipper turned around to get a good look at Asgore. He was covered with white fur, most of it covered in purple robes. His horns were pure white, and his beard was a golden yellow.

“Well, I must take my leave,” announced Asgore. “I don’t want to disrupt your time with these children that are brimming with energy.”

“It was a pleasure to speak with you, Asgore!” commented Ford. “Perhaps we should do this again!” 

“Perhaps so,” chuckled Asgore, leaving his seat and heading to the lift. “Till then, good day to you!”

“To you as well!” said Ford, before the doors could shut all the way. After that, Ford gave the twins his full attention.

His face began to grow grim.

“It is very wonderful to see you two again,” said Ford, a smile crossing his face for a brief moment. “But something tells me that that is not the main reason for why you two are here.”

“Right as always, Grunkle Ford,” answered Dipper.

“You give me too much credit, boy,” chuckled Ford.

Dipper reached into his shirt pocket to finally bring out the object in question: the mysterious journal.

“Grunkle Stan and I found this in the exact same hiding place for your third journal,” explained Dipper.

Stanford gently took the journal, and began skimming the pages.

“Well, I must confess,” said Ford, “A lot of these journal’s findings are indeed true.”

“What?!” shouted Dipper in alarm.

“I have discovered similar readings only a week ago. It’s actually why I wanted to return to the Mystery Shack. Then Stan got the news that you two would be returning, and that sealed the- ahem- and that helped me make my final descision.”

“But,” continued Ford, “this is the first I have ever heard of a _source._ ”

“Source?” asked Mabel, not fully caught up.

“Talks of a time flux apparently. Just that alone tells us this isn’t the works of Him, since he would rather disregard Time altogether, instead of simply altering it.”

“But we still don’t know who the author is! Or the person responsible for the time flux!” panicked Dipper.

“Patience, Dipper,” said Ford. “He is the worst of the worst, so I say we allow this new information to linger in our thoughts for now, instead of more questions. I would like us all to look further into this after a few days. But for now, enjoy your winter break. You two being here shows that you deserve to relax.”

“Yeah Dipper!” said Mabel, gently jabbing Dipper in the arm.

“We…. are going to try to solve this, right?” asked Dipper, worried.

Grunkle Ford smiled. “Of course, Dipper. You, Mabel and I are all going to solve this. When stepping into the unknown, we always do it together!”

“That’s right, Dipper Dots!” boomed Mabel. “Pines! Pines! Pines!”

Eventually, the whole office was echoing the confident chant of the Pines Family Name.

* * *

 _Hmmmmm, what could I do tomorrow as an activity for me, Dipper and Frisk?_ thought Mabel, in her bedroom, everyone else in their own sleeping chambers as well.

_Snow Ball Bash? Naw, Dipper and Frisk may end up in a dangerous fight. Library? Too boring. Grenda and Candy? Dipper would go mad. Sledding…_

_Sledding…_

It was perfect.

Mabel faked snores and a mumble to Dipper, knowing that Dipper would be aware she was planning something big, if she was dead silent.

Tomorrow, she was going to make Dipper and Frisk become the best of friends.

* * *

_If you assume the worst out of everything, you heavily decrease the chances of finding amazing discoveries._

* * *

**BAABBAABBBAABAA AAABBAAAAABBAAA ABAAABAABA AAABBABBBAABBABAABAA BAABBAABBBAABAA BAABBBABBAABAAAABBABBAABA AAAAABAABAABABBAABAAAABAAABBBB BABBAAABBBABAAAABABBAABAA AAABABAAABAABAAAAAAABAABBBABAABAAABAABAABAABA BABAAABBABAABBBAABAAAAAAABAAABAAABB ABBBAAABAB BAABABAABBAAAAABAAABBAABB BAABBABBBA AAABABAAABAAAAABABBAABABB AAAAAABBABAAABB AAABABAAABAABAAAABAAABBBB**


	4. Stuck Sledding

Dipper was awoken from his slumber very spontaneously, by a force he had known of for thirteen years.

“Morning, Mabel…” groaned Dipper.

“Good Morning, Smarty Farty!” cried out Mabel. “Ready to start our first twenty four hour day in Gravity Falls?”

“As soon as the pounding in my head stops…” replied Dipper.

“Nope! No waiting around!” said Mabel, yanking the warm covers off of Dipper’s bed. Despite this action, Dipper didn’t budge.

“Dippeeerrrrr,” whined Mabel. “How am I supposed to enjoy the morning without spending it with my Mystery Twin partner?”

“How am _I_ supposed to enjoy the morning with all these noisy new guests in our second home?” retorted Dipper.

“Dipper,” said Mabel, growing worried. “Why won’t you give any of these new guests a chance?”

“Because, Mabel! Because!” shouted Dipper, bolting up to a sitting position with both hands in the air out of exasperation. “I gave Bill a chance! And my reward for giving him a chance was abandonment from my body for almost a whole day!”

“Really bro?” said Mabel, hands on her hips. “Do you seriously think that because you gave the benefit of the doubt to one of the worst beings in the world, then that automatically means all other monsters will do the same thing as him?”

“They could!” shrieked Dipper, shakily bringing his arms down. “How can we know for sure that they wont try to kill us in our sleep!?”

“I dunno, by talking to them?” said Mabel sarcastically. “They seem to get along with Frisk.”

“I don’t want to hear anything about-!” started Dipper, before remembering what he had promised to do today.

 “Ahem. Okay. But you have to remember that it could be a ruse! Like the Slow Loris! What if Frisk is actually a shapeshifter, and plans to stab us?!“

“Being threatened with a knife kinda pales in comparison to getting your memory wiped, or your body possessed,” pointed out Mabel.

“I just can’t help but worry that none of them are what they seem!” said Dipper.

“Then give them all a chance!” shouted Mabel.

“Alright I will!” admitted Dipper.

“That includes Frisk,” continued Mabel, crossing her arms.

“Fine… I’ll try…” humbly agreed Dipper.

Mabel smiled, helping Dipper get off the bed.

“I’ve got a good feeling about them,” said Mabel.

“You get a good feeling about anything that comes up,” argued Dipper, smiling nonetheless.

“Duh!” said Mabel, “I have to! For all the times that you _don’t!_ Now let’s go get breakfast. I wanna be ready as soon as I can so all three of us can go sledding!”

* * *

##  **_[GravityTale](http://teffyjeffy.tumblr.com/post/141345215646/gravitytale-with-whisper) _ **

* * *

Frisk was there to meet the twins at the bottom of the stair case.

“Howdy Mabel. Greetings Dipper,” said Frisk, acknowledging accordingly.

“Sup, friendo!” said Mabel, waving enthusiastically.

“Hey there,” mumbled Dipper, raising his hand slightly in a pathetic wave.

“Don’t mind my brother!” said Mabel, almost wrapping Dipper in a headlock. “He’s just tired!”

“He doesn’t like me,” reminded Frisk, bluntly.

“Naaawwwwwww!” insisted Mabel. “Dipper is just a paranoid mess right now, aren’t ya Dipper?”

“That’s bound to happen when you deal with the paranormal,” wheezed Dipper.

“ISN’T HE FUNNY?” laughed Mabel, violently patting Dipper on the back.

“I think you’re hurting him,” said Frisk.

“Thanks, Commander Obvious!” said Dipper.

“I’m sure he just meant that in a friendly tone!” insisted Mabel, letting go of Dipper.

“Brace yourself,” suddenly warned Frisk.

“Huh?” said Dipper, glaring. “Is that a _threat-”_

There was a sudden shatter from the kitchen.

“SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?!” called Papyrus, from the kitchen.

“just what undyne told me to do,” replied sans, also in the kitchen.

“You were supposed to _throw_ it, not _drop_ it!” shouted undyne, also in- okay, you get the idea.

“What are they doing in there?!” said Dipper, freaking out.

“Undyne calls it ‘Art’” said Frisk.

“ARTS AND CRAFTS!?” said Mabel, bolting towards the kitchen. “COUNT ME IN!”

Dipper and Frisk were left alone. In front of each other.

“So,” started Dipper, looking away and holding his left arm. “Mabel is going sledding. She’s bringing us both with.”

“Cool,” said Frisk, expression never changing. “Sounds like fun.”

“You would say that, wouldn’t you,” said Dipper, immediately growing suspicious. “If I didn’t mention Mabel, your answer would’ve probably been different.”

“No,” said Frisk. “Sledding would be fun, even without Mabel.”

“So now you’re calling her worthless?!” said Dipper, ready with an accusation like a loaded rubberband.

“You have the wrong idea,” said Frisk.

“Are you calling me stupid?!” shouted Dipper.

“Well you certainly seem to lack in the Reasoning Department,” challenged Frisk, growing slightly annoyed.

“WOO YOU JUST GOT _ROASTED_ BOY!” called Grunkle Stan.

“Why you-!” seethed Dipper.

“Why me indeed?” continued Frisk. 

Dipper was shaking.

“Sorry. That was uncalled for,” said Frisk.

“You bet your face it was!” screamed Dipper, shakily pointing at Frisk. 

“I hope for the sake of both of us that this sledding plan works,” said Frisk.

“Me too!” said Dipper, before realizing what he just said. “I mean-!”

“Glad we can finally agree on something,” said Frisk, heading to the living room. “I wonder if the next thing we can agree on is a favorite TV show…”

Dipper grumbled, deciding he didn’t really have anything else to do.

* * *

“Oh. My. GOD, Papyrus!” scoffed Undyne intensely. “You can’t just use some of the milk in the carton! That’s showing it mercy! Frisk may have taught me to show mercy in the battlefield, BUT THEY NEVER SPOKE OF MERCY IN THE KITCHEN! NOW DUMP THAT SUCKER! STEAL THE ONLY PURPOSE THAT THE MILK CARTON HAS!”

“YES, CAPTAIN!” screeched Papyrus, emptying the entire milk carton into a cereal bowl that definitely couldn’t hold all of the milk. 

“We are going to get in so much trouble for this! _But who cares?!_ ” hollered an ecstatic Mabel. “All who agree that this is a work of art, say ‘Aye!’”

“meh. i always preferred the letter ‘s’ over the letter ‘ _aye_ ’ but whatever,” joked sans, raising his hand.

“’NAY’ TO ANOTHER POINTLESS PUN,” said Papyrus, “BUT ‘AYE’ TO ART! NYEH HEH HEEEEH!”

“Yeeeeaaahhhh!!!” bellowed the energetic Undyne. “Let’s blow this canvas to smithereens!”

Suddenly, Toriel walked into the kitchen, her face quickly turning into one of shock.

“Orrrrrrrr maybe will just stick to making waffles,” said Undyne, with a hint of worry.

Various mumbles agreed with Undyne.

* * *

“The one with the dog is better!” insisted Dipper.

“You’re only saying that because I mentioned that I like the one with the rocks,” said Frisk. “If you actually looked at the screen during that cartoon, you may have understood why a lot of people like it, not just me.”

“You two are hopeless,” said Stanley. “The one with the blue horse is clearly the winner.”

“Nuh uh!” piped in Mabel, joining the gang in the living room. “The one with the blonde girl with a star tattoo on her cheek is the best!”

“Is nobody gonna mention the one with the bug and the cat?” pointed out Wendy. “Because that one is the _best_. Don’t agree with me? Fight me.”

“Dudes, what about the one with the sponge?” said Soos, getting his Mystery Shack costume on. “I feel a deep connection to that pink star.”

“Soos, I hate to say this to a fan of it, but that show stopped being funny since _ever,_ ” said Dipper. 

“I like that show too…” muttered Frisk.

“You would!” barked Dipper.

“If you two want to enjoy your super awesome breakfast,” said Mabel, “then you both will have to be quiet. Otherwise I’m dragging you both out the door so you two can learn how to have _fun_!”

“Uh oh! We got a Mabel on a Mission, folks!” joked Stanley. “Everybody scatter!”

That certainly lightened the mood that was quickly darkening. Everybody was able to get a chuckle out of it. Well, except Dipper and Frisk.

Mabel decided that as soon as breakfast was over, it’s go time.

* * *

The time was officially go time. Mabel, Dipper and Frisk found themselves sitting on a lift, towards the top of a snowy hill. Everyone was covered in gear, including Frisk, who decided to bring their backpack for some reason. Mabel brought her own, to make Frisk not look as awkward.

“I thought we were going sledding,” said Frisk. “This seems more like skiing.”

“According to Gravity Falls History,” said Dipper, ready to show off, “Quentin Trembley enjoyed mixing and matching activities. He believed it would be his ultimate weapon to distract his adversaries. So he had sledding take place on a skiing hill,”

“Isn’t that super dangerous?” commented Frisk. “Why are you letting your sister go through with this?”

“Because I trust her,” growled Dipper.

“AAP!” said Mabel. “No words of hate! None of it! Nope!”

“But Mabel!” said Dipper

“No ‘Buts’ except ours on the sled, mister!” concluded Mabel.

“Ugh!” moaned Dipper in frustration.

Frisk simply remained silent.

* * *

“Alright fellas!” hollered Mabel, the trio finally reaching the top of the hill-slash-mountain. “Welcome to Sled Hill! The sleddiest hill in all of Gravity Falls!”

“Fitting name,” observed Frisk. “Did Mr. Quentin Trembley come up with that name, or did you?”

“How dare you insult my sister!” snapped Dipper.

“It was a legitimate question, Dipper,” rebutted Frisk.

“How wonderful of you to ask!” said Mabel, while sending another glare at Dipper. “And I will say that it was Mr. Trembley who named it! If it were me, we’d be sledding on ‘Sugar Mound!’”

“Mabel, that name wouldn’t make any sense during any season that isn’t winter,” commented Dipper.

“On the other hand, it works during the winter,” commented Frisk, making Mabel beam.

“But there’s a three out of four ratio that it doesn’t make sense!” asserted Dipper, growing miffed. 

“That’s no excuse to ignore the one out of four ratio that the name makes total sense,” said Frisk. “While talking about ratios, I’d like to bring up the fact that two out of three of us want to have fun, as opposed to the one out of three of us who would rather stand around and argue all day.”

Dipper went pale.

“OOOOOOHHHHHH!” shouted Mabel, hands cupped around her mouth. “Dipper has been thwarted by his only weakness: another person who knows math!”

“Lets just get this over with, okay!?” growled Dipper, pointing to the sled.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Grumpy Grump,” commented Mabel, earning a thumbs up from an otherwise inexpressive Frisk.

Mabel removed her own backpack, tossing it to Dipper unceremoniously. 

“As congresswoman, I declare that I shall go down the hill first, alone!” said Mabel, mounting the sled like a knight on a horse. “Hopefully when I return, you two will be ready to go with!”

“That’s not how a congress works!” shouted Dipper too late, Mabel already flying down the hill.

“Well, just you and me,” commented Frisk.

“Oh joy!” jeered an exasperated Dipper.

“Hate me all you want,” said Frisk, “but I still want to have fun. I’m going to start making a snowman. Feel free to join me once you’ve _cooled down”_

“Puns stopped being funny in the year 1755!” hollered Dipper, Frisk busy making the base of the snowman. When they had finished making the giant base, Dipper spoke up again. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that Sans weirdo died in 1754!” 

“First of all, rude. Second of all, wrong,” answered Frisk, leaning on the base of the snowman. “Nobody knows where Sans came from, but at least half of the words he uses certainly didn’t exist in the 1700′s.”

“That proves nothing!” said Dipper, marching up to Frisk. “He could’ve easily read more recent editions of the Dictionary!”

“He doesn’t care about dictionaries,” said Frisk, getting up from their leaning position. “He prefers quantum physics.”

“Okay, now I know you’re lying!” said Dipper, scowling.

The base of the snowman shifted.

“If you would have let me finished, I would have added that he also likes joke books,” said Frisk, growing irritated.

“Sure you would have!” antagonized Dipper. “But why is it you only do that when I point out a flaw?!”

The base shifted more.

“Because you never give me a chance to explain myself!” shouted Frisk, reaching their limit. “What else am I supposed to do?!”

“LEAVE!” exploded Dipper, getting right in Frisk’s face. “LEAVE THIS TOWN, LEAVE MY SECOND HOME, AND LEAVE…!”

chk.

“MY…!”

**CHRHK!**

“SISTER!!!”

**_FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!_ **

Dipper and Frisk leapt away from the sudden sound, witnessing a sight that made their stomachs plummet.

The base of the snowman had tipped over the edge, and what was once a snowball was now an _avalanche._

“MABEL!!!” shrieked Dipper and Frisk.

Dipper whipped out his cellphone, quick-dialing Mabel.

The dial tone felt like it lasted for fifty lifetimes.

_“Hello this is Mab-”_

“GET OFF THAT HILL RIGHT NOW!!!” screamed Dipper into the receiver.

 _“Oh, so now_ I _cant have fun?!”_ responded Mabel.  _“Dipper, this is becoming a serious problem!”_

“WE’RE DEALING WITH A MUCH MORE SERIOUS PROBLEM AT THE MOMENT!” shrieked Dipper, growing more and more distressed. “GET OFF THAT HILL!”

_“LALALALALA NOT LISTENING! Huh, weird, whats with that fast moving white cloud right behind m-”_

A constant beeping reached Dipper’s ear. 

The phone hit the ground with a gentle thud.

No sounds were uttered except for the moaning winds of winter.

* * *

Just as quickly as silence came, it was replaced with _noise._

 _“YOU!!!”_ spewed Dipper, vision blurred as he shakily pointed at Frisk.

Frisk was no longer stoic. They looked absolutely petrified.

“You can kill me later!” insisted Frisk. “Right now we need to-”

The wind was forced out of Frisk’s lungs as they were slammed into the snowy ground.

“Get off me!” shouted Frisk, struggling to breathe as an enraged Dipper Pines poorly attempted to choke them.

“She could still be alive!” wheezed Frisk.

“You would just keep putting her in danger!” roared Dipper, his eyes stinging with tears.

“If you cease your attack,” pleaded Frisk, “I could save her!”

“No!” wailed Dipper, “You’ve given me nothing but misery!”

“You need to let me try!” shouted Frisk, growing worried for Mabel.

“You caused an almost certain death for her! I won’t let you near my sister! Never again!”

“I was the one who began this! I need to be the one to fix it!”

“I wont let you! ”

“You must! I beg of you!”

“No!”

“Please!!”

“NO!”

 _“WHY WONT YOU LET ME SAVE YOU, ASRIEL!!!?”_   

Dipper’s confusion at the name was all it took for Frisk to throw the twin off of them. Dipper landed with a thud, while Frisk curled up into a ball.

The noise was once again replaced by silence. Nothing besides the wind.

* * *

A ringtone began to play in Dipper’s pocket.

Mabel’s ringtone.

Dipper stood up rigid, pulling out the phone as if it would vanish in an instant. He jabbed his finger on the answer button and whisked the phone up to his ear.

_“THAT WAS THE COOLEST SLED RIDE EVAAAAAAARRRRRR!!! I WANNA DO IT AGAIN!”  
_

“MABEL!! Oh thank the sky!” hollered Dipper, getting Frisk’s attention. “Where are you, Mabel? Are you okay?!”

“ _Well considering that what I saw was definitely_ not _a cloud, I’m feeling fantastic and sparkly_!” cheered Mabel. _“I think I’m in some sort of cavern! It must have been hidden underneath a patch of grass! It’s kind of cold in here… but there’s lots of shiny rocks! I love shiny rocks!”  
_

“They are amazing, aren’t they?!” replied Dipper, his sister’s survival making him giddy. “Hang on, we’re coming to get you!”

“*Sigh…*”

Dipper almost didn’t pick up Frisk’s sound.

“Wait, huh?” said Dipper.

 _“Oooooh is Frisk nearby?!”_ squeaked Mabel.  _“I wanna talk to them!”_

“Idon’t think they’re in the mood…” said Dipper, beginning to really notice how miserable Frisk looked. 

 _“I’m on it,”_ said Mabel, Dipper preparing his ear drums for what he knew was coming next.

 _“HEY FRIIIISSSSSK! I’M SENDING YOU WAVES AND WAVES OF POSITIVE ENERGY IN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE! ARE YOU HEARING THIS!? BE HAPPY! A HAPPY FRISK IS A_ HAPPY _HAPPY FRISK! SO BE HAPPY! DID I ALREADY SAY THAT?! I THINK I ALREADY SAID THAT! BE HAPPY! ALRIGHT, NOW I_ KNOW _I ALREADY SAID THAT! SO THAT’S SOMETHING TO BE HAPPY ABOUT! IS THIS WORKING?! OF COURSE IT IS!”_

“Alright Mabel, that should be enough,” said Dipper, noticing a hint of a smile on Frisk’s face. “Hold on, wherever you are. We’re coming to get y-”

“May I speak with her?” mumbled Frisk.

Dipper was hesitant. But seeing as his sister was alive, he needed Frisk on his good side in order to get all the help he can get in rescuing his sister. 

“Knock yourself out. Not really,” said Dipper, earning himself a quiet chuckle from the other child as the phone was exchanged.

“I’m sorry Mabel. It was all my fault,” said Frisk.

 _“You’re sounding like Dipper!”_ said a playfully worried Mabel.  _“Sound the Dipper Imposter Alarm! WAAP! WAAP! WAAP!”_

“I was the reason the avalanche started. I was making a snowman and then it… started rolling and I-!”

 _“Frisk, friendo, flirt-face,”_ interrupted Mabel.  _“An avalanche is hardly a threat after you’ve experienced the impossible a dozen times over. You, Dipper and I all know that.”_

“She’s got a point,” admitted Dipper. Frisk smiled at that.

 _“So here’s what I’ll tell you,”_ said Mabel. _“Once you find me, get me one of these cave crystals as a present! Then I will forgive you!”_

“It shall be done,” said Frisk.

_“Huh? Waitwaitwait Frisk I was just yanking your chain! You don’t have to-”_

“See you in a bit,” said Frisk, ending the call and tossing the phone to Dipper.

“So…” said Dipper. “Mabel’s alive.”

“I almost killed her…” said Frisk, thinking out loud.

“I know that feeling…” said Dipper. “During this past summer I had a huge crush on Wendy Corduroy. Well, during one of our adventures, we encountered a shapeshifter and… they pretended to be Wendy…dead. And I was convinced that it was all my fault.”

“That was trickery,” pointed out Frisk. “But here, all I can blame is myself.”

“Not true,” humbly admitted Dipper. “I could’ve taken the situation in stride. I could’ve simply made the snowman with you!”

The two kids chuckled. 

“Frisk…” Dipper began. “…who is Asriel?”

“An old friend…” answered Frisk. “Despite the fact that I knew him for only five minutes…”

“Did he die?” asked Dipper, dreading the answer.

“No,” said Frisk, “But… he isn’t all there… anymore.”

“You mean like… he’s a vegetable?” asked Dipper, horrified.

A tear ran down Frisk’s right cheek.

“Exactly,” said Frisk.

“My word…” said Dipper, staring off into nothing. “And you only knew him for five minutes.”

“Give or take,” mumbled Frisk.

“And that was enough for you to care enough to try to save him…” said Dipper, realization dawning on him. “You… jeez Frisk, I’ve been a jerk to you.”

“Well, I hope you don’t mind me agreeing with you one hundred percent on that,” joked Frisk.

“No offense taken whatsoever,” said Dipper, surrendering. “So. You said you may know of a way to find my sister?”

“Well, I said I knew of a way to ‘save’ your sister,” corrected Frisk, “but since she’s clearly safe I think my plan will do just as good at accomplishing the second most important task right now: finding her.”

Frisk opened their backpack, dug through it, and pulled out…

A tiny, furry white dog.

Dipper gaped as Frisk brought the dog over to Mabel’s discarded backpack. The dog sniffed it, then bolted.

“Follow the dog!” commanded Frisk.

“It’s white,” pointed out Dipper. “We may lose sight of it.”

“Then we follow the footprints,” said Frisk.

“True,” said Dipper. “But what if the wind whisks them away?”

“Then we have to move now instead of later,” said Frisk.

“True again.”

* * *

Mabel was taking a tour of the caverns for possibly the fifth time when she noticed a peculiar sight.

The face of a dog, poking though a low point in the cavern ceiling.

“Hey there little fluff-ruff!” cooed Mabel. “Need some help?”

The dog simply barked.

“Alright, just relax!” said Mabel. “I’ll get you out!”

Frisk and Dipper freaked out when they saw the dog seem to get pulled even further down the whole it dug up.

“Save the dog!” shouted Frisk.

The two children began pulling at the dog.

Mabel felt herself be lifted off the ground. “Hey! Get back down here!”

Frisk and Dipper collided with the ground as a giant tug took them by surprise.

The poor dog was yipping and yipping.

One final solid pull from Mabel, and the ceiling cracked.

CRASH!

Dipper, Mabel, and Frisk ended up in a giant heap in the cavern, with a white dog sitting on top of it all, unharmed.  

“Good dog…” muttered Frisk, voice muffled from being at the bottom of the pile.

“Sorry guys,” giggled Mabel. “I should’ve known it was you from the beGINNING!”

Mabel was almost clothes-lined by the hugs of Dipper and Frisk.

“You’re alive!” shouted Dipper.

“You’re alright!” cheered Frisk.

“And _you’re_ getting along?!” gasped Mabel. “Well well well! I KNEW this is what we needed!”

“Actually, the way we bonded wasn’t through fun, but moreso the relief of you being ali-”

“Let her have this moment, Frisk,” said Dipper, covering Frisk’s mouth. Afterwards, Dipper returned the discarded pink backpack to Mabel. 

“EEEEEEE this is so awesomely exciting!” cheered Mabel. “Now we can do activities together!”

Frisk suddenly took notice in something that wasn’t Mabel or Dipper.

“We could do the snowball bash! Or snow forts! Or- or ice skating!” listed Mabel excitedly.

“Giant snowman…” said Frisk.

“Giant snowman!” shouted an ecstatic Mabel. “That’s perfect! Lemme find a top hat!”

“No…” whispered a trembling Frisk, pointing behind Mabel and Dipper. 

“Giant snowman.”

Mabel and Dipper turned around to witness a gigantic snow monster stomping towards them. Its arms were bulky. Its eyes made of coal. Its teeth and claws made of sturdy icicles. Its temper focused on the three children that invaded its home.

“RUUUUUNN!!!” hollered Dipper. 

The group darted off in multiple directions. The monster stomped one of its feet, making the ground shake. Some crystals lodged in the ceiling broke loose and fell to the ground. Frisk quickly picked up a small one before continuing to run. 

“What does it want!?” screamed Mabel.

“It wants us for lunch, apparently!” yelled Dipper.

“Quiet, it’ll hear us!” shouted Frisk.

“Then why are you shouting?!” said Dipper.

“I can’t think everything through in stressful situations, okay?!” said Frisk.

“Over here! Behind this rock!” called Mabel, pointing straight ahead.

All three children dove behind the rock.

“Plan. Now,” whispered Dipper.

“We need to find out what it wants,” said Mabel.

“How do we do that?” asked Dipper.

“Flirting usually works,” said Mabel, looking at Frisk when she said it.

Dipper shook his head vigorously. “I _really_ don’t think flirting will work in this situation.”

“Aw,” pouted Mabel, despite the dangerous circumstances.

“Flirting won’t work,” agreed Frisk. “But that doesn’t mean talking wont work either. You two stay here. I’m going to try to see whats bugging it.” 

Frisk got up from their hiding spot and began walking towards the snow giant.

“What the heck are they doing?!” whispered Dipper, freaking out.

Mabel had stars in her eyes.

“They’re giving the monster a chance…”

* * *

 ~~“Mister!”~~ called Frisk, getting the monsters attention.  ~~“I need you to calm down!”  
~~

 ~~“WHY SHOULD I?!”~~  said the monster.  ~~“As if a puny human like you could help me!”~~

 ~~“I have accomplished quite a handful of things, sir!”~~ retorted Frisk.  ~~“Let me hear you out!”  
~~

 ~~“Don’t make me laugh!”~~ roared the monster.

 ~~“I don’t see any humor in this,”~~ said Frisk, their bluntness shining once again.

 ~~“UGH FINE! I’LL TELL YOU!”~~ said the snow monster.  ~~“But… please don’t laugh, okay?”  
~~

 ~~“You have my word,”~~ promised Frisk.

* * *

“It always wanted to slide down Sled Hill,” explained Frisk to Mabel and Dipper. “But because it’s body was made out of snow, it would always fall apart when it tried to slide down.”

“Awwwwww poor thing!” said Mabel. “Is there anything we can do?”

“It says that if we had a sled, maybe it could work,” said Frisk.

The kids and monster were silent. 

* * *

“WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” cheered Mabel.

“YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!” hooped and hollered Frisk.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” screamed Dipper, covering his eyes.

The trio had somehow managed to get the monster onto the sled and back up the hill. The kids were content to sit on the snow creature’s back. And the monster was having the time of its life, soaring down the mountain!

“THIS IS THE BEST FIRST TWENTY FOUR HOUR DAY BACK IN GRAVITY FALLS EVER!!!!!” yowled Mabel, having the time of her life with her two best pals of the day.

“THIS IS SCARY BUT I’M ENJOYING THIS!!!” added Frisk.

“WISH I COULD SAY THE SAME BUT I THINK I’M GOING TO PASS OUT!” hollered Dipper.

“PASSING OUT IS FOR THE WEAK!” shouted Mabel. “LIVE IN THE MOMENT!”

The three kids continued to scream for various reasons as they flew down the mountain while holding onto a very joyful snow monster.

* * *

“Bye bye, snow monstrosity!” waved Mabel as the trio headed home. “We’ll be sure to visit!”

The monster roared in reply.

“It said that it likes that idea a lot,” said Frisk, smiling.

“You never told me you were a monster whisperer!” said Dipper, in awe.

Frisk chuckled nervously. “It’s kind of new for me, so I sort of forgot.”

“Happens to the best of us, Frisk-o!” said Mabel, a big smile on her face.

For a while, the walk back to the Mystery Shack was in silence. When the Mystery Shack was in sight, Mabel spoke up again.

“So you two are friends now, huh?” said Mabel to the other two.

“Yeah,” admitted Dipper. “I guess we are!”

“It is a nice feeling,” commented Frisk. “Maybe now I can show Dipper the cartoon with the rocks.”

“I still don’t know if I’m okay with its complete scientific inaccuracy with minerals,” responded Dipper, “but I’d be willing to give it a shot!”

“You two are already so close!” squealed Mabel. “I cant wait to fill my scrapbook with all our moments! Hey Dipper! Think we should have Frisk join us in our adventures?”

Dipper pondered this for a moment, before smiling. “I don’t see any harm in that. Frisk?”

“Could be fun,” said Frisk. “I enjoy the time we share.”

Mabel beamed. “Then it is settled! Until the end of winter break, the Mystery Twins are now the Mystery Trio!”

Mabel whipped out a party popper and let it burst.

“Yeeeeaaaahhhhh!” shouted Mabel.

“Before I forget,” said Frisk, digging into their pocket, “I believe you said you wanted one of these?”

Frisk brought out a cavern crystal. Mabel almost fainted. It was pretty enough in the cave, but out in the sun, it shined like a breed of sparkles and rainbows. Two things that she worshipped.

“Frisk, you are too pure for this world,” said Mabel.

Frisk began to sweat, and scratched their head while chuckling nervously. “I take it that you like it?” 

“I LOVE IT!” shouted Mabel, giving Frisk a bone crushing hug before charging towards the Mystery Shack. “GRUNKLE STAN! GRUNKLE FORD! LOOK WHAT FRISK GOT ME!” 

Dipper and Frisk were alone for the third time that day.

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, all is forgiven,” said Dipper, smiling at Frisk. “You really proved yourself out there. I’m sorry that I never gave you a chance beforehand.”

“It can always become a learning experience,” said Frisk. “I’d say you learned this lesson and passed its test with flying colors.”

“That’s a good way to put it…” said Dipper, before bringing out his hand. “Friends?”

Frisk grinned, gently shaking Dipper’s open hand with their own.

“Friends.”

* * *

_Give everybody you meet a chance. It isn’t fair to them, or you, to judge them because of the actions of one jerk._

* * *

## N OENAQ ARJ SEVRAQFUVC UNF ORRA SBEZRQ NAQ GUR ZLFGREL GEVB VF BSSVPVNYYL OBEA


	5. Mental Metal

**WARNING: Mentions of implied poor parenting/parental neglect/refusing to learn for the sake of love.**

* * *

Dipper found himself struggling to remain conscious for about the second time today.

No, it wasn’t due to boredom. How is anybody supposed to stay bored when Gravity Falls is a magnet for chaos?

No, it was because he had been thrown unceremoniously at giant objects for the past five minutes. The most recent one he was thrown at was the kitchen table.

Dipper could only barely make out the audible ruckus that was ensuing around him.

Undyne, Wendy and Mabel with their battle cries.

Alphys’ shrieks of horror.

Panicked mumbling from a creature that Dipper couldn’t get his blurry mind to remember the name of.

Metal clashing with metal.

Those were only a few bits of noise that Dipper could register among all the pandemonium.

Stupid rogue robot-suit. Stupid fragile brain. Stupid old Mystery Shack. Stupid…

Stupid…

Dipper blacked out.

* * *

##  **_[GravityTale](http://teffyjeffy.tumblr.com/post/141345215646/gravitytale-with-whisper) _ **

* * *

The rest of yesterday’s events were thankfully less dangerous, Dipper thought, when compared to the encounter with the snow monster.

Mabel was still squealing over her new gem-gift, so Frisk took it upon themself to introduce Dipper to all the monsters that had already talked to Mabel.

Toriel made a great first impression on Dipper when she was introduced. With her manners and way of speaking, Dipper finally understood why Frisk was brimming with respectful qualities and etiquette; Frisk learned to act that way under the loving guide of Toriel. However, Toriel made sure to mention, with slight disapproval, that Frisk still knew how to stir up a fair amount of mischief.

After finally managing to look past the whole undead-skeleton thing, Dipper found himself wanting to be buddies with Papyrus. The lovable weirdo had infectious optimism, a trait only rivaled by Mabel. And despite his hilariously high naïveté, Dipper could sense that Papyrus was quite the smart one. He was always inspecting puzzles, and would always solve them. As long as they were puzzles in the first place, that is.

Dipper was frightened of Undyne. Her energy was overwhelming enough, but things were twice as unnerving with Undyne’s tendency to threaten. Frisk promised Dipper that he would eventually get used to her personality. Dipper prayed that the length of time for that would be relatively short.

Dipper developed respect for Alphys soon after they shook hands. She was timid, but smart. Super smart. Finally Dipper had someone else to talk to about science and mathematics, whenever Ford was too busy tinkering with mysterious findings to chat.

Having briefly met him two days ago, Dipper found himself confused regarding the nature of Asgore. He was immensely kind and supportive, and nowhere near as corrupt or crude as Dipper believed kings were. What confused him the most was Toriel’s attitude towards the Former King. She always treated him with a sense of strained kindness, with multiple flashes of dismay crossing her face. Dipper did not know why there was such disgust towards the King, and for once, Dipper found himself lacking the desire to solve this new mystery.

And speaking of mysteries…

Sans was unsettling. Dipper did not know for certain why, but he was convinced that Sans was constantly hiding something. Dipper found himself eager to crack the code surrounding Sans. Surely whatever was discovered, Dipper concluded, would spell F-A-T-E for the surprisingly plump skeleton.

Thinking about the mystery of Sans lead Dipper to return to thinking about the mystery of the journal. Since Frisk was officially a member of the Mystery Trio, Dipper found it only fair that Frisk should know about the knew discovery.

Thus, after the rest of the inhabitants of the shack had turned in for the night, a quick meeting was held in the Pines Twins bedroom, with Dipper, Mabel, and Frisk.

* * *

_“Since Frisk is going to be with us much more frequently,” explained Dipper, reaching into his vest pocket, “It’s only fair that they know about what we have discovered.”  
_

_Dipper then pulled out the object in question: the mysterious, black journal._

_Dipper received a look of confusion from Frisk, and an eye-roll from Mabel_

_The very appearance of the journal was unsettling. Dipper could understand why. Unlike Stanford’s books, the journal felt a lot less polished. The pages, though new, were just as dirty as the over-thirty year old books written by Stan’s twin brother. The cover was wrinkled and nameless. And the book’s contents, simply being there, were enough to send a chill down Dipper’s spine._

__“Over the summer, I stumbled across a journal written by my Great Uncle Ford, consisting of mysteries galore,” continued Dipper. “After my discovery, Mabel and I bared witness to multiple extraordinary events, both harmless and dangerous, and they all had something written about them in Grunkle Ford’s notes.”_  
_

_“In this_ new _book resides what would appear to be a brand new plethora of the many secrets hiding in Gravity Falls,” explained Dipper, making sure to emphasize the importance that the book holds._

_“Like what?” calmly implored Frisk.  
_

_“The unexplainable,” dramatized Dipper, secretly enjoying Frisk’s nervousness. “Monsters, puzzles, enigmatic sights and land marks-”_

_“Dipper, Frisk’s used to that kind of stuff already!” chided Mabel. “Savior of Monsters, remember? So lay off the creepiness, the poor kid doesn’t deserve any of it. Must I remind you that it was Frisk themself who saved our skin during the crystal cave escapade?”_

_“Come on Mabel,” whined Dipper. “I was just trying to sound cool!”_

_“Pfft! Save it for your next crush,” commented Mabel, snorting with laughter._

_“Mabel!” shrieked Dipper, mortified. “This is serious stuff!”_

_“Dipper, Grunkle Ford himself said for us to not worry about this book!” said Mabel. “We’ll talk more about it tomorrow! Any weirdness, Bill related or not, can wait!”_

_“Guys…” spoke up Frisk. “Who is Bill?”  
_

_“Nobody,” immediately answered Dipper.  
_

_“But-”  
_

_“He’s nobody!” shouted Dipper, silencing Frisk.  
_

_An uncomfortable silence followed afterwards._

_“Dipper…” started Mabel, “I think they deserve to know.”  
_

_“The more anybody knows about that monster,” explained Dipper, frantically, “the more of a chance he has at returning!”  
_

_“We don’t have to go into detail,” reasoned Mabel, nicely. “Just a little bit. It’s like glue! It’s dangerous to chug, but a little lick isn’t gonna kill anybody!”  
_

_Frisk chuckled at the weird analogy._

_Dipper took a deep breath. “Alright. Okay…”_

_“Bill Cipher… he…” began Dipper, struggling to find the correct words. “Evil. That defines Bill. Life, Trust, Sanity, even your mere five senses; they are all in danger if you encounter Bill. He is a twisted, horrible monster, that will do anything he can to get what he wants, and he can literally do anything, if you’re not on your guard. He has been gone for a while now, and I don’t want anything to do with him ever again.”  
_

_“He sounds like a real force of nature,” commented a pondering Frisk. “I won’t pry any further.”_

_“Thank you,” said Dipper, releasing an excessive amount of air he had no idea he was holding._

_And that was the end of that._

* * *

Fast forward a little bit. It's now 2:00, and the Mystery Shack had just shut up shop for the day. But most importantly, it was time for lunch.

Dipper was enjoying a BLT sandwich in the living room with Mabel, Papyrus, Wendy, and Undyne. Soos had allowed them to borrow seats from the kitchen until he could find the time to retrieve more proper seats for the living room.  They were all enjoying their lunch, while watching an episode of the cartoon with the rocks. Needless to say, Dipper got hooked on the show pretty fast.

"Annnnnnnnd that’s K.O for Ms. Giant Green Monstrosity!" announced Mabel loudly. "We have a winner!"

Everybody cheered with various measures of energy, and the group was taken by surprise that the highest level of energy was coming from Dipper himself.

"WOOO! THAT’S HOW IT GOES DOWN ON THE ISLAND, BABY!" shouted Dipper. "TASTE YOUR DEFEAT! TASTE IT!"

Mabel had to catch Dipper’s plate as it flew out of his lap during his cry of victory.

"Wow Dipper! I thought you hated this show!" giggled Mabel. "What made you see the light?"

Papyrus, feeling a sudden need to answer the young lady's question, stood up from his seat, forcing Undyne to flawlessly catch his plate as it tipped over.

"IF I HAD TO TAKE A GUESS," said Papyrus, "I WOULD SAY THAT MR. DIPPER SAW THIS LEGENDARY LIGHT BY ALLOWING HIMSELF TO BEFRIEND THE HUMAN!”

"Papyrus," said a curious Dipper, "Why do you keep referring to Frisk as ‘The Human’? You know their name, and you never refer to me or Mabel or anyone else by anything except our actual names."

Papyrus paused, deep in thought.

"THAT IS A VERY GOOD QUESTION!" admitted the tall skeleton. "WHY _DO_ I KEEP CALLING THE HUMAN, 'THE HUMAN'”?

"Wait, hang on," piped up Undyne, setting her plate aside. "Papyrus, I thought you knew the answer to that question!"

"I DO?"

"Yeah, you dummy!" said Undyne, lightly smacking Papyrus on the skeletal equivalent of a shoulder. "I mean come on, you told me only two days ago why you always call Frisk 'The Human!'”

There was silence. And then there wasn't.

"AH YEEEEESSSS! I MOST CERTAINLY DID!" said the proud Papyrus. The skeleton leaned to the twins as if to tell a secret, but didn't lower his voice at all, practically shouting, "I CALL THEM 'THE HUMAN' BECAUSE WHENEVER I DO, THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO CHEER UP!

"Awwwwwww that’s so cute!" cooed Mabel.

"Cute?" replied Dipper. "I’d say that’s more along the lines of odd."

"I’m with Dipper on this one," added Wendy, deciding to join in on the conversation. "Being called a human isn’t exactly the kind of thing that would cheer someone up. In fact, most monsters on the TV shows that we grew up with used it as an insult rather than a compliment."

"WELL IT'S JUST LIKE MY BROTHER ALWAYS SAYS," began Papyrus, before acting out a decent impersonation of Sans, "reality is a lot more complicated, bro. that’s why i always opt to go back to sleep whenever i find myself in the real world."

After the impersonation was finished, Papyrus almost immediately lurched forward and endured a fierce coughing fit while Undyne pat his lack of a back, and Wendy Mabel and Dipper laughed out loud.

"Anyways, back to the whole 'Frisk apparently likes being called a human' thing," said Undyne, "I had always wondered why Frisk never cowered when I loudly referred to them as a member of their own race instead of referring to them as just a punk. Well, now I know why!" she finished, beaming at nobody in particular.

"Huh," remarked Wendy. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard you refer to frisk as 'The Human.' When did you do that?"

"Mostly around the times I was trying to skewer them with my spears," answered Undyne, proudly.

"Trying to WHAT?!" shouted Dipper, Wendy asking the same question more out of confusion than shock.

"Oh shut up!" barked Undyne. "It’s all in the past! Siddown and eat your lunch!"

"Pfft," responded Wendy. "Whatever _Mom."_

"‘MOM’?" repeated the confused Papyrus. "UNDYNE’S YOUR MOTHER?! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!"

"that’s right," said Sans, standing to the left of Papyrus' seat. "wendy and undyne aren’t related at all. excellent deductions bro."

"Oh hi Sanster!" said Mabel, waving. "I never saw you enter the living room!"

 _I don’t think anyone else did either…_ thought Dipper.

"i see you’re all watchin' the cartoon with the rocks? nice." commented the short skeleton, looking at the screen. "ah this one’s a good one. its the one where the orange lady dies, right?

"SHE DIES?!" shrieked the horrified Papyrus.

As if on cue, the orange figure on the screen plummeted through the sudden cracks forming in the ground, to certain doom. In response, Papyrus could only slump back into his seat.

"SANS YOU IDIOT!" shouted Undyne, before attempting to soothe her best friend. "Paps never got a chance to see the original release of this episode!"

Dipper watched in awe as the small skeleton's smile... faltered.

"aw man…" mumbled Sans, concern flooding his eyes. Eventually he reaches up to pat his brother on the back. "i was just kiddin, papyrus. she doesn’t die. she actually ends up falling into our old living space in the underground, completely uninjured. sorry to scare ya like that. i mean, i never meant to _rock_ the boat or anything."

The pun didn't go unnoticed, because a snort from Papyrus was the response that Sans received.

"WOW," said Papyrus. "YOUR ATTEMPTS AT COMEDY ARE AT AN ALL TIME LOW TODAY."

"eyyyyyyy you’re the one snickerin' about it, not me," said Sans, giving his bro a wink with his left eye, and double pistols with his hands.

Everybody giggled at the exchange between the skele-siblings, including Dipper, noticing that the skeletons seemed just as close as he and Mabel were.

"Arcade token for your thoughts?" asked Mabel, noticing Dipper deep in thought.

"Ooooooh tough call," joked Dipper, before switching to sincerity. "Sure, I’ll spill it. I’m thinking that maybe I’m being too suspicious about Sans. He seems like a cool guy, and an awesome brother."

"You should tell him that!" encouraged Mabel, lightly punching her brother's arm. "I’m sure he’d love to hear that!"

Dipper looked around, ready to tell Sans just that.

...

Sans was gone.

"OKAY," hollered the exasperated Dipper, "HOW COME I NEVER SEE THIS GUY ENTER OR EXIT A ROOM?! OKAY, HE’S BACK ON THE LIST!"

"WOWIE!" squealed the misinformed Papyrus, before turning to speak to Undyne. "WE’VE ONLY KNOWN DIPPER FOR TWO AND A HALF DAYS AND HE’S ALREADY MAKING A FRIENDSHIP LIST!"

"Is he?" replied Undyne, before planting her hands to the arms of her chair and leaning out of it to shout at Dipper. "Hey nerd! Am I on that friendship list!? You’re gonna answer that with a yes, right? RIGHT?!"

"Y-yeah! Of course you are!" rambled Dipper, finding it best to play along.

Undyne responded by pumping her fists in the air. "WOO!"

"Welp," announced Mabel, standing up, "I’ve vanquished my lunch for the day! I’m gonna store my dirty dishes and see what kind of pizzazz is going on in the shack! Dipper! You coming with?"

"Just as soon as this episode is over," said Dipper, his eyes returning to being glued to the screen.

"Ppppppbbbbhht," replied Mabel with a raspberry before heading off. "Spoil Sport."

"Hey Glitterball!" Undyne called to Mabel before she could get too far away. "If you see Alphys, tell her that her hot girlfriend is looking around for her!"

Mabel giggled loudly. "Aye Aye, Captain!"   

* * *

Mabel gleefully marched into the kitchen with her dirty dishes, and found Toriel rummaging through cupboards in deep concentration.

"Hi Goat Mom!" shouted Mabel.

Toriel bleated in surprise.

"Goodness!" said Toriel, after taking a couple of deep breaths. "Young one, try not to startle me like that!"

"Sorry bout that," said a giggling Mabel, putting her dishes in the sink. "Whatcha doing?"

Toriel smiled warmly "Well, I’m trying to see if this kitchen has the ingredients I need to make Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie."

Mabel frowned, nervously glancing around the kitchen. "I mean, you’re free to look, but I don’t think we have the necessary items. If we did, I would know. I’m like, the Keeper of Sweets in the Mystery Shack. I once coated one of my sweaters in sugar so I didn’t feel bad whenever I chewed on it out of boredom!"

"It’s always a joy to have a person with a sweet tooth in the house," said the chuckling Toriel.

"Do you want me to let Grunkle Stan know you’re looking for ingredients for Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie?" asked Mabel, eager to help.

"Oh dearest, no," replied Toriel, nervously. "I wouldn’t wish to burden a young one with a task that I could easily carry out mysel-"

"What’s that?" interrupted Mabel, playfully cupping her ear. "‘Yes Mabel, that would be most helpful to me’? Awwwwwwww Goat Mom, how sweet of you to say! Catch you on the flippidy flop!"

And with that, Mabel dashed out of the room.

Toriel chuckled to herself. "What an energetic child…"

* * *

 _'Catch you on the flippity flop’? ugh, never saying that again,_  thought Mabel. _I sounded like Dippy Fresh. Ew._

She would have continued her internal rant, if she didn't overhear two voices coming from Stanley’s former office.

On the other side of the door, Frisk chatted with Stanley in Soos’ office. Stanley tended to occupy his former office whenever he needed to study, or plan, or just think in general. So that was why Stan was currently sitting at Soos' desk while Frisk was sitting on a comfy blue chair and sipping tea. The child was talking with Stanley in order to learn more about the adventures of the Pines Twins, since the ambassador wished to work with people familiar to monsters in order to speed the process of reintroducing monsters to the human race.

"So everybody believes Gravity Falls is back to normal?" said Frisk. "What exactly happened to make people believe it wasn’t?"

"Hey kid, never mind all that." replied Stanley. "Anyways, yep, everybody pretty much believes that good ol’ Gravity Falls is back to normal. Well, as normal as it can get around here anyways. We still get gnomes in the trash and Manotaurs at the local pub, but they’re harmless! Annoying as heck, but harmless!"

"That is very good to hear," commented Frisk, taking another sip of tea. "But also confusing. If you’re already used to monsters, why are you and Dipper still so wary around my friends?"

"Dipper? Well its just in his nature to question anything that’s ‘out of the norm’" said Stan, using air quotes. "As for me… well… my experience with monsters has been… pretty different from your experience. They were… not so friendly."

"I see." responded Frisk.

"But ever since Little Dipper found that new journal," began Stanley...

He never got a chance to finish, because Mabel barged into the room, in hopes of distracting both party members from talking about the journal.

"HI GRUNKLE STAN!" yelled the young intruder.

"Mabel!" hollered Frisk, almost spilling tea all over their new sweater, one that was knitted to resemble a bright blue sky with a few smidgens of cloud.

"Frisk!" said Mabel in false surprise. "I didn’t expect to see you here!"

"You weren’t eavesdropping, were you?" said a suspicious Stanley Pines.

"Should i not have done that…?" asked Mabel, deflating.

Frisk smiled reassuringly. "It's okay Mabel. It was just a boring meeting you were listening in on. No secrets were told."

"The way you said that," said Mabel, playfully interrogating the kid, "it makes me suspect that you yourself have secrets that you’re hiding."

Frisk sassily put their hands on their hips, and leaned forward in their chair. "Oh, and you don’t have any of your own?" they retorted, also in a playful manner.

"Alright you two! I want a nice clean fight!" joked Stanley. "You cannot hit below the belt, hold, trip, kick, headbutt, wrestle, bite, spit on, or push your opponent! Don’t start until I blow the whistle!"

All three laughed at eachother's antics.

Happy that the topic of the journal was avoided, Mabel finally revealed the original reason for her intrusion. "I just wanted to make a quick stop here to talk about something super important."

"Is it about sweets?" guessed Stanley

"How’d you know?!" yelped Mabel in shock.

"Lucky guess" he lied. It wasn't luck. It was just obvious.

"Anyways," continued Mabel, "Miss Toriel was hoping to find ingredients for Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie!"

Stanley scratched his head. "Well I’m pretty certain that we don’t have any ingredients for that kind of dessert. At least, we don’t have any ingredients that are fresh enough."

"Grunkle Stan," pouted Mabel, "I’m sure that if we have any ingredients for a pie that doesn’t deal with fruit, those ingredients will be perfectly fine."

"Sweetie, flour only lasts for a year," explained Stanley. "I’m an irresponsible man in his 60s whose only memory of Home Ec Class deals with a stove blowing up while some guy, whose name doesn’t need to be specified, was trying to make a loaf of bread. Look me in the eyes and tell me that we have any decent ingredients to make a pie."

"Ewwww," said Mabel

"Exactly," said Stanley.

"So… what do we do?" pondered Frisk.

Stanley got out of his seat. "Well, I may have to toss aside the 'I-only-do-things-if-I-get-paid-for-it' philosophy this one time, and get the doggone ingredients. Ford would kill me if I didn’t show proper behavior to all my new house-guests. Since the gift shop just closed for the day, I have no worries about Soos looking over the Shack while I’m away."

"He's sure having an easier time managing it than I had," said Mabel, chuckling.

"What are you talking about?" asked Stanley. "The place was fine when I got back!"

Mabel smiled. "Oh nothing! It’s just that a giant monster tore a hole in a wall of the gift shop and snapped the totem pole in half and I spent the next seven hours fixing the hole, the pole, and everybody else’s messes!"

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"You know," said Frisk, "if I didn’t experience the shenanigans of monsters, as well as the accomplishment of saving the monster race, I’d be pretty confused right now. But I do have the experience, so I’ll instead say this. Life as a Pines member? It sounds super awesome."

"Oh the stories we could tell, kiddo," said a grinning Stanley ruffling up Frisk's hair. "Alright, I’m heading out to get those ingredients. Don’t stray too far from Soos while I’m gone. And tell Dipper that if he keeps staring at that TV screen, a girl is gonna crawl out of it and eat him for dinner."

"Will do, Grunkle Stan!" said Mabel, giving Stan an ‘O.K.’ sign.

* * *

"Drive safely Mr. Pines!" called Soos from the front porch.

"Not a chance!" responded Stanley, revving up and driving away.

Soos smiled and headed back into the Mystery Shack, before calling for the three kids that had recently met up again. "Hey dudes! Would you be able to find Lady Toriel for me? There was just a few more questions I wanted to ask her regarding living arrangements!"

"You got it Soos!" responded Mabel with a salute. "Anything else you need us to do?"

Dipper listed possibilities with his hand. "Wash the dishes? Sweep the deck? Investigate the house for any leads on the journal?"

He earned himself a somewhat painful elbow from Mabel.

"All three of those options sound like a lot of effort for very little reward," commented Frisk.

"Ooh! I know what we could do!" said an excited Mabel. "We should try to find Alphys! Undyne’s been looking for her!"

"Oh yeah, about that dudes," said Soos nervously, "she’s like super busy. Best I don’t tell ya kids where she is, just in case your kid-mischief spirits decide to completely disregard any rules established by adults like me."

"Soos knows too much," joked a dead panning Frisk. "Our situation has been compromised."

"Don’t worry, Soos! We won’t try anything! You’re the boss after all!" said Mabel.

"Please try not to call me that, dudes," said Soos, twiddling his thumbs nervously. "Puts a lot of pressure on me, even if I _am_ the new boss of this place... And because I said that, my head is pounding. See dudes? Pressure."

"Hey, you’ll be alright," said Dipper, smiling encouragingly. "I know I used to give you a lot of grief in the past, but you _really_ know how to get things done. In your own super special way."

"Yeah!" cheered Mabel. "And lets not forget all the times you saved me and Dipper from almost certain doom!"

"Based on what I’ve seen from you," added Frisk, "I too have zero reasons to doubt your ability to smoothly run this place without any hiccups."

"Aw you guys!" said a happy Soos. "Heaven knows how much I missed you kids while you were gone! You too Frisk, even though I could have sworn I never saw or heard about you over the Summer!"

"GROUP HUG FOR MR. MYSTERY!" hollered Mabel.

"Don’t mind if I do!" laughed Soos, kneeling down with arms open.

Dipper and Mabel lunged at Soos with a pounce hug, while Frisk opted for a gentle hug.

"Okay dudes," said Soos, releasing his grip. "I could stay like this forever, but I _really_ need to sort out these new living spaces."

"I’ll get her!" said Dipper,

"No I’LL get her!" insisted Mabel.

"Ummm she’s my mom, so I think _I_ should get her," added Frisk.

"I’ll race ya!" challenged Mabel.

"You’ll regret it," retorted Frisk.

"Trust me," said Dipper, "she won’t."

Mabel smirked. "Ready? GO!"

* * *

The race ended in a tie. Toriel was informed that Soos wished to discuss living conditions, so she was currently speaking with Soos in the gift shop. Meanwhile, Dipper Mabel and Frisk were wandering about the shack.

"So there we were!" said Mabel, drama pulsing in her voice. "Surrounded! Outnumbered! Clubs in hand, and not afraid to use them! Thennnnnn WHAMMO! WHALLOP! POW! They were flying all over the place! It was like the world’s most painful equivalent to confetti!"

"Hmmm…" said Frisk.

"Meh," muttered Dipper. "I have cooler stories…"

"You do _not!"_ said Mabel.

"Yeh-huuuh!" said Dipper stubbornly. "You talk about dealing with an insane golf ball civilization. Meanwhile, _I_ used a sprinkler to melt an army of clones prototyped after me!"

Silence.

"Actually with that summary, your story _does_ sound a little cooler Mabel," admitted Dipper.

"HA!" boasted Mabel.

"It seems to me though," said Frisk, "that a lot of these stories deal with you guys… not dealing with monsters via a peaceful resolution.

"We tried!" said the Twins

"And did you keep trying?" challenged Frisk.

At that, the twins looked down guiltily.

"No…" moped Mabel. "We usually gave up."

"When lives are on the line… you tend to stop caring about a peaceful resolution," admitted Dipper.

Frisk was silent, and the twins could've sworn that their face gave off a look of... understanding.

"Hey! You know what might be able to cheer us up?" spoke up Mabel. "A good ol’ round of Tumbleweed Terror!"

"What’s that?" questioned Frisk with a raised eyebrow. "A horror film? I’ve never heard of it. It must be old."

"Pffffft nah, its not an old horror film that involves the terror of stopmotion," soothed Mabel. "It’s a pinball game!"

"Soos played on it almost all the time during the summer," added Dipper. "I’m guessing he doesn’t play as much anymore, running the shack and everything."

"That… actually sounds like a lot of fun right now," said Frisk, a smile making its way onto their face

Mabel gave a solid nod. "In that case, TO THE BASEMENT!"

* * *

The kids were currently heading down the surprisingly quiet stairs that lead to the dusty basement, and the conversations were still going strong, with Mabel excitingly talking up a storm. 

"One time Soos came up with this amazing story about Tumbleweed Terror! Remember that, Dipper?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah totally!" said Dipper, smiling. "That was the one where Soos, you and I were sucked into the world of the pinball game, right?"

"Yeah! He told the story so well it was almost like we were living it!" said Mabel, tracing an imaginary arch with open hands for effect.

"These are all very interesting stories," said Frisk, intrigued. "What others do you guys have?"

Dipper became somewhat smug. "Well this next one starts of on a dull day at the Lazy Susan-"

_WHHHIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!_

"Of course," grumbled Dipper. "The moment I get to tell a story, something interrupts me!"

"What _was_ that?" asked a confused Mabel. "That certainly didn’t come from the pinball machine! Unless there’s like a super secret area level that deals with aliens..."

Frisk pondered. "That sounded an awful lot like mechanical work. From the hands of…"

The kids gasped, noticing a familiar lizard in a corner of the room, tinkering with a human sized machine.

Dipper gawked. "Alphys?!"

"WAH!" shrieked the scientist, her eyes darting around nervously. "Oh! Oh dear oh my! Um! Uhhhh…."

Seeing no escape, Alphys tossed her hands in an embarrassed shrug.

"Hi guys! W-what are you doing here?"

Mabel smiled and waved, oblivious. "We were about to play pinball?"

Dipper furrowed his eyebrows, _not_ oblivious. "What are _you_ doing here…"

"N-nothing!" said Alphys, shaking.

"Uh huh," replied the unconvinced Dipper, before pointing to the figure behind Alphys. "Is _that_ nothing?"

Before Alphys could even stutter, Frisk let out a stern, "Ahem!"

"What?" asked Dipper, turning around to acknowledge Frisk. 

"Don’t talk to Alphys that way," said Frisk, firmly. "She is kind and thoughtful, and has spent most of her life believing those traits to not be true. Don’t start making her doubt herself again, she doesn’t deserve it."

Dipper pale, returning his attention to Alphys. "Oh… I’m sorry…"

"He didn’t mean anything by it," Mabel said to Alphys, while patting Dipper on the shoulder.

Despite that, Alphys still seemed pretty nervous. "Y-yes… well, um…. I might as well explain myself now, huh?" she said, sagging.

"That seems to make the most sense at the moment," agreed Frisk.

Alphys nodded. "R-right… W-well… um... tadaa!" she said, gesturing to the object behind her as if she was presenting a brand new car to a lucky gameshow contestant.

Getting a better look, the children could see that the object that Alphys was working on resembled a somewhat humanoid robot. Its head reminded Dipper of the robot from one of his favorite games, Rocket and Clonk.

"You make killer robots?!" squealed Mabel. "THAT’S SO AWESOME!"

"No! Nonono! It’s not a killer robot!" hollered Alphys, before attempting to calm herself. "I-in fact, it wont be a robot at all once it has passed all of the necessary tests!"

"Annnnnd you lost me," said Mabel.

Instead of shying off, Alphys pushed ahead. "This creation is going to be used to provide a vessel– well, a _body_ – for a spirit!"

Dipper's eyes widened. "That sounds… super complicated and super amazing at the same time."

"C-complicated? W-well not really," Alphys elaborated. "I’ve… k-kinda successfully done this thing before."

"Wooooaaaaahhhh," said Mabel, hands on her cheeks.

"Wow...." said Dipper, almost at a loss for words.

"I w-wanted it to be a surprise…" said Alphys, fidgeting and looking down. "See, I invited the first successful subject and the soon-to-be-second subject to stop by! And well… a lot of my friends respect those two individuals. It would have been a pleasant surprise for them to see those two walk through the door!"

The scientist's fidgeting increased, and she began to shake and sweat.

"N-never once did it cross my mind to even ask any human residents of this house if it would be okay for more guests to arrive…"

"It’s alright, Alphys," said Frisk, calmly. "I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with some good reasons for them to stay, if necessary."

"Th-thanks Frisk," said Alphys, smiling sheepishly.

"Soooooo…." said Dipper, seemingly in thought, "what time are these two supposed to arrive?"

Alphys checked her watch. Her pupils shrank and she gulped.

"H-How mad would you get if my answer was ‘Right now?’"

* * *

Soos and Toriel were just wrapping up sleeping arrangements when a knock came from the gift shop door.

"Huh," pondered Soos. "That’s odd. I could’ve sworn i put up the ‘closed’ sign outside…"

Wendy groaned, shutting her magazine. "Wow. Unbelievable how we’re still getting Black Friday shoppers who have no idea how to read or tell time."

"Oh dear…" said Toriel with worry. "So this is normal for you?"

"Nah," said Wendy. "It only happened once. But still, one occurrence is one too many." She rolled up her sleeves and headed for the door.

"I-it’s alright Wendy, I can handle it!" said Soos, also stumbling for the door.

"No way man," said Wendy. "You’d end up just letting them in!"

"Well I don’t wanna be rude!" said Soos nervously.

"It isn’t rude if the other is inconsiderate!" snapped Wendy.

They both tugged at the handle, the door opened, and they practically collapsed in a heap on the floor of the porch.

After a moment of silence, a robotic, and yet emotional voice invaded their ears.

"See, Blooky?! I told you my name would get around fast on the surface! Look at them! They’re already flocking to be the first one to greet me at the door!"

Wendy dazedly lifted her head from the snowy ground. "I need an ice-pack… because I’m staring at what appears to be the baby of a disco ball and a calculator…"

"Ooooooooh the jealousy is strong with this one!" said the robot.

They most certainly were not Black Friday shoppers. One of them was a rectangular robot, with slinky-like arms, and one wheel to serve as a leg. The other one appeared to be a ghost, with transparent headphones around their equivalent of a neck. And the ghost looked pretty miserable.

Soos finally lifted himself off of the ground, and spoke on dizzy autopilot, "Sorry ladies and gentlebros… were closed… please come back tomorrow…"

 "Closed?" said the ghost. "Oh………. okay, we’ll come back tomorrow………" their voice sounded so miserable that it was almost funny. _Almost._

"Nonsense, Blooky!" said the robot to the ghost. "The text from the doctor clearly states that we were to be here at 2:30! I even made an exception of not showing up fashionably late _specifically_ so I would show up on time!"

"The sign says they closed thirty minutes ago…………." mumbled the ghost.

"Does it?!" asked the machine, before checking the sign.

**Mon-Fri: 7:00am-2:00pm**

**Sat &Sun: CLOSED**

"Well! So it does!" said the robot. "Well, I’m sure these two lovely people will make an exception for someone like me!"

"And who are you, exactly?" asked Wendy, bored and quite annoyed.

The robot seemed to freeze for a couple of seconds.

"Oh no…………..." mumbled the ghost.

The robot was suddenly basked in a spotlight from an unknown source. "I’mmmmmmmmmmmmm GLAD YOU ASKED! I am Mettaton! The Underground’s #1 Choice in TV Entertainment! You will see my absolutely remarkable face lightening up the screen in such shows as “MTT Quiz Show,” “Cooking with a Killer Robot,” “MTT News,” and on every other Sunday, “Mettaton: LIVE!” Pleased to meet you! The pleasure is yours!"

"I'm Napstablook............. that's all I have going for me..............." said the robot's ghostly companion. "Please don't be annoyed with my cousin............ He’s very humble once you get to know him………………"

"Oh really?" said Wendy, not believing Napstablook for a second.

The robot, Mettaton, quickly snapped his fingers, and the spotlight vanished. He then turned away from the humans to frantically speak with Napstablook.

"Blooky!" whispered Mettaton in a panic. "Why isn’t this working?!"

"I dunno…………" quietly murmured Napstablook. "I was going to suggest dropping the star act when you’re off screen………... But you never did, and I just went along with it because you always know best…………"

"No I don’t!" maundered Mettaton. "That’s why I refuse to go anywhere without bringing you with! Without you, I have nobody to tell me when to back off and keep my feet on the ground!"

"I’m sure you’d do fine………….." said Napstablook, guiltily looking to the side.

"Oh no you don’t!" said Mettaton, pointing at the ghost. "You are the most valuable person I know of! I won’t allow you to metaphorically beat yourself up!"

Soos, finally getting his bearings, spoke up. "Uhhhhh dudes?"

"Yeeeessssssssss?" said Mettaton, switching back to his TV star personality.

"You uh… wanna come inside?" suggested Soos. "Kinda cold out there, and with you bein a robot and all…" Soos looked at Wendy to see if she was okay with this.

Wendy scoffed in annoyance. "Ugh whatever. They can come in. Just don’t expect me to fetch them oil cans and cobwebs for snacks."

"Faaaaannntastic!" said Mettaton in his game-show voice. "Lead the way, Mr. Eyepatch!"

* * *

"Why it’s Mettaton!" said Toriel happily, finally seeing who was at the door.

"Q-QUEEN TORIEL?!" stammered Mettaton. "I- I had no idea you were here!"

"Oh everyone is! Alphys, Papyrus, Sans, Undyne… even Asgore…" Toriel said with a huff.

"We were only aware that Alphys would be here……….." said Napstablook.

"Were you?" said Toriel. "Well that’s a shame, because nobody really knows where she is right n-"

"I’M HERE I’M HERE!" screamed Alphys, barging into the gift shop with Dipper close behind her.

"Ahhhhhhh and there she is! The lady of the hour!" cheered Mettaton, arms open wide.

The robot and the scientist both went in for a hug. And even though it was insane how awkward it looked, both didn't mind one bit.

"Wow……." said Dipper, having decided to inspect the spiritual lifeform in front of him. "I didn’t know the Underground had ghosts as well!"

"We’re kinda rare……………" commented Napstablook, shyly.

"What category are you?" Dipper suddenly asked. "Wait don’t tell me, I wanna be able to guess!"

"Category……?" asked Napstablook. "I don’t understand…….."

"You’re a category two point five!" exclaimed Dipper, pointing at Napstablook. "Did I guess correctly?"

"I don’t know what your’e trying to tell me……………." whimpered the ghost.

"Huh. I guess underground ghosts don’t have categories," concluded Dipper. "Interesting."

"Y-You two are just in time!" said Alphys, speaking to Mettaton, and Napstablook. "I was just about to test the new metal body!"

"Ahhhh so that's what the 'surprise' was in your text," said Mettaton, putting two and two together. He then- somehow- latched on to Napstablook and squished the poor spirit in an intense hug. "BLOOKYYYY!!! YOU'RE GETTING A BODY!!!!!!!"

"Oh……………" responded Napstablook, before turning his attention to the smiling scientist. "I told you you didn’t have to make that for me……………"

"N-nonsense!" Alphys laughed nervously. "You always seem so sad whenever you mention the lack of arms and l-legs! I j-just felt that by doing this, I could make you h-happy!"

"That’s…………… super nice of you………….." said Napstablook.

"F-follow me!" said Alphys. "I’ll lead you to it!"

"HEY!" shouted a familiarly gruff female voice. Everyone halted as Undyne barged into the room.

"You’ve been absent for too long!" Undyne shouted, affectionately, at Alphys. "So your consequence is that you have to let me come with ya this time!"

"O-okay!" said Alphys, certainly not upset with allowing Undyne to come along.

With that, Dipper, Mettaton, Undyne, and Napstablook all followed Alphys to the hallway to the basement, while Toriel returned to chatting with Soos, new guests meaning new living-space plans. Wendy smiled, shaking her head, and returned to reading her magazine, legs propped up on the checkout desk.

* * *

"BULLSEYE!!!" announced Sheriff Skull, putting Frisk on the leaderboard. Frisk proudly selected letters to spell out "SAVE" on the board.

"HOLY SUGAR!" Mabel cried out. "FRISK, HOW DID YOU DO THAT!? GETTING THE BULLSEYE IS NIGH IMPOSSIBLE!"

"It’s all in the wrist," said Frisk, a smirk being the only indication that Frisk ever changed their expression.

But Mabel wasn't satisfied with that answer. "Nuh uh. There must have been more to it than that."

Frisk started to look nervous. "Well uh…"

Frisk was saved by the bell when the basement door opened, and down the stairs came Alphys, Dipper, Mettaton, Undyne, and Napstablook.

"Well if it isn't my little star!" cooed Mettaton, hands together.

"Hi there, Floor Buddy............" said Napstablook, softly!

"Hey guys," replied Frisk, smiling and waving.

Mabel hugged herself in excitement. "Ooooooooh new faces to squish!"

The excited girl rushed to the new monsters in an attempt to squish their faces. Mettaton's equivalent of a face didn't budge, and Mabel’s arms went straight through Napstablook.

"Aw," said Mabel, disappointing.

"I’m sorry……………….." said Napstablook.

"What an interesting greeting!" said Mettaton, fascinated. "Do other people squish faces as a way of saying hello?"

Dipper chuckled. "Nope. That’s pretty much a Mabel quirk."

"Is that the little girl’s name? Why would she be named after syrup?" asked the confused robot, scratching the top of his box-body.

"That’s ‘Maple,’ Mettaton," said a deadpanning Alphys. "You host a cooking show! You're supposed to know these kinds of differences!"

"Oh woe is me~!" Mettaton wailed melodramatically.

"Okay, let’s cut the crud," said Undyne, slightly impatient. "Alphys hon, what have you been hiding from me for the past couple of hours?"

"Oh!" yelped Alphys, blushing. "L-let me quickly get it!"

After a little bit of effort, Alphys had managed to drag the robot to the center of the room.

Alphys cleared her throat. "B-behold! Napstablook’s Soon-to-be New Body!"

Mettaton loaded up an applause track and clapped enthusiastically, the rest following suit with actual applause from their hands. Except Napstablook for obvious reasons. 

"IT LOOKS SPECTACULAR!" cheered Mettaton. "When does Blooky get to wear this masterpiece?"

"N-not just yet!" responded Alphys humbly. "I have to run the robot through an advanced training AI before I can let Napstablook use it!"

"A training AI?" asked Undyne.

Alphys nodded. "When I left the Underground, I soon returned to it briefly in order to bring up all of the lab equipment and for further study. The training AI was one of them. We’ve had so many royal scientists come and go during our time in the Underground, s-so I’m not exactly sure who was responsible for the development of this AI. N-not to worry though! It’s in perfect condition, and has already been tested thoroughly."

"How is it advanced?" asked Dipper.

"W-well there’s a lot of aspects to define it as advanced," explained Alphys. "It speaks in multiple languages, can adapt to stressful situations, s-stuff like that. One giant aspect it has though is that in the highly improbable risk that we happen to find ourselves in a sudden attack, the robot will immediately eliminate the threat!"

"That sounds like a feature that won’t blow up in our face in any way!" happily exclaimed Mabel

"R-right!" said Alphys, giggling nervously.

"Well what are you waiting for darling?!" encouraged Mettaton. "Let’s hear this AI sing!"

Alphys smiled with anticipation. "Y-yes! Right away!"

After Alphys put in the necessary calibrations, the robot's eyes lit up. They were a bright dull-blue.

"Hello, Alphys," greeted the robot, its computerized dialect making each word it spoke feel like the beginning of a sentence.

"Good day to you!" replied Alphys, happily. "Can you tell me why I booted you up?"

"I Was Booted Up To Serve My Purpose As A Training AI To This Metal Vessel Before It Serves As A Body For Napstablook," answered the robot.

"Correct! A-and how would you like me to refer to you during this exercise?" asked Alphys.

The robot stated, "My Databases Inform Me That I Am TmFwc3RhYmxvb2s="

Alphys clamped her mouth shut and stared, as an awkward silence invaded the basement.

Mabel eventually spoke up. "How about we just call you Tim?"

"Tim Is Good," said... Tim.

"O-okay Tim!" said Alphys, getting back on track Let’s start by w-walking to one side of the room!

Everybody stepped out of the way as Tim complied, walking to the opposite side of the basement.

"Perfect!" said Alphys, clapping once. "Now walk to the other side!"

Tim complied once more, easily walking to the other side of the room.

"Now breakdance!" spontaneously suggested Mabel.

And by George, Tim could _breakdance._

Everybody applauded Tim's talent. Except a jealous Mettaton.

"I could've done better than that..." he muttered.

"Wonderful!" cheered Alphys. "Alright, one last question before we begin."

"Yes, Alphys," responded Tim.

Alphys stuttered, "I’m sure the answer to this question will be ‘Yes,' b-but just to make sure… is our location safe?"

In response, Tim rotated its head in a 360 degree motion, then rolled its head back the other way. Apparently it was the robot's method of scanning. Alphys, satisfied, brushed imaginary dirt off her hands, ready to begin-

"I Must Do One More Search."

"Pardon?" said Alphys, taken by surprise.

"One More Search," repeated Tim. "Request To Extend Scanning Capabilities In Order To Scan The Entirety Of Gravity Falls."

Alphys did her best to keep her tremors to a minimum. "G-Granted."

A tense silence spread like wildfire throughout the room. Undyne's eyes narrowed, Napstablook stayed close to Mettaton, the latter doing his best to ignore the alerts that were starting to pop up in his field of vision. Frisk and Mabel observed the group with worry. And finally, Dipper felt his grip on the journal tighten as he hesitantly brought it out and scanned the pages. He paled when he found a specific page.

**_rogue robots_ **

50%

**_you may already know this by now, but it bears repeating: by the time I learned about a time anomaly being responsible for gravity falls' return to abnormal phenomena, the damage had already been done. and the damage took on various forms._ **

65%

_**one of the biggest forms was changes in AI behavior.** _

75%

_**the good news is that this variable is not constant. in fact, it is super rare.** _

82%

_**but if an ai unstable enough were to scan the growing dangers of gravity falls, and you are in its close proximity…** _

90%

_**you have only two choices:** _

95%

_**fight to the death, or run for your life.** _

"Scan Complete."

"And?" said Alphys, her voice barely over a whisper.

"Danger Detected," said Tim. "Category: Prophecy."

"Category what?" said Frisk, nervously.

Tim ignored the child, continuing, "It States: The Anomaly Will Doom All."

Hearing that, Dipper grabbed Mabel’s hand.

Concern grew as the AI controlled robot began to spark.

"New DirECtive," said Tim, its voice growing more and more sinister. "LOcate and ELIMinate The Anomaly and ALL SuBJects ASSOCiaTED WIth iT.

Alphys gasped in terror as Tim's eyes went from harmless blue to a threatening shade of red. Everybody took a step back, the kids only an inch away from the stairs. In an instantaneous motion, Tim snapped its head in Alphys' direction, its focus laying on the scientist rendered mute with fear. Tim opened its mouth and spoke.

"TARGET ACQUIRED."

A cyan spear whizzed past Alphys, only inches away from hitting Tim directly, but the AI immediately jumped out of the way, the spear exploding and leaving a remarkable dent in the stone wall.

A petrified Alphys was swept up in the strong arms of Undyne, as Mettaton attempted to hold Tim back.

"EVERYBODY OUT! NOW!" shouted Undyne, the voice of a fierce commander taking charge of the fish woman.

Nobody bothered to think twice, Napstablook, Frisk, Mabel, and Dipper immediately heading for the exit. But as Tim struggled with MTT, its sights landed on Dipper. Mabel and Frisk were out the door, but Dipper didn’t make it. He was hoisted up by a flying Tim, who chucked the screaming boy at the pinball machine. The machine sounded the obvious ‘TILT’ alert before shutting down.

Frisk and Mabel didn't have time to look back, but it became obvious to them that something had happened to the youngest Pines member.

Having dealt with the pest, Tim soared upwards, crashing through the basement ceiling.

* * *

“WHAT THE CRAP?!” hollered Wendy in alarm when the wooden floor burst like a tiny volcano, revealing a very hostile robot.

Tim spotted the redhead reaching for an ax. It got prepared to terminate the threat that was ready to attack the AI, when suddenly, Tim is hit dead on with a fireball. Aggravated, Tim turned to its right field of vision to spot Toriel, brandishing fireballs and burning with an intense silent rage. Taking advantage of the distraction, Wendy stunned the robot by chucking the cash register at it, before lunging at Tim with the ax in her hand.

"ERROR," blared Tim. "FLIGHT BALANCE: FLUCTUATING. UNIDENTIFIED WEIGHT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DISTURBANCE-"

"SOOS!" screamed Wendy. "You gotta find the kids!"

Soos finally snapped out of his petrified state of hiding beneath a clothes rack. "Right!" he shouted, running out of the gift shop.

"WHAT’S GOING ON OVER THERE?" asked the ever-shouting voice of Papyrus, who was currently browsing the museum. "ARE YOU GUYS HOSTING A SURPRISE PARTY? WHY WASN’T I INVITED?"

Hearing the voice, Tim blasted its built-in jet boots and, with Wendy still latching on, aileron-rolled into the museum. Papyrus ducked with a yelp, and the two airborne fighters slammed into an exhibit labeled “the Mutant Fox with Metal Legs.”

"I am gonna hate robots for the rest of my life now..." groaned Wendy, dizzy beyond belief.

"AH. THIS ISN’T A SURPRISE PARTY. ITS A SURPRISE _ATTACK._ " concluded Papyrus. "AGAIN, WHY WASN’T I INVITED?!"

Immediately following the rhetorical question, a magically summoned bone emerged from the ground beneath the head of a dizzy Tim. Tim’s head flung backwards, but remained attached, as the machine suffered a direct hit from the magic projectile. 

"WELL I’M JOINING IN THE FRAY WHETHER I’M INVITED OR NOT!" bellowed Papyrus, summoning a heap of bones pulsing with white and blue magic.

* * *

Soos and the remaining kids ended up discovering each other on opposite sides of the hallway.

"Kids!" shouted Soos, smiling with relief.

"Soos!" hollered the kids, sprinting the length of the hallway and leaping into Soos' arms.

"Okay dudes," said Soos, ready to sort the new mess out. "History has taught me that when weird stuff starts happening, at least one of you guys knows what the heck is going on. So, what the heck is going on?"

Mabel immediately began to blather frantically. "Robot! Scanned gravity falls! Went crazy! Trying to kill everybody!"

"What she said," said Frisk, fear instead making them almost unable to talk.

"Any ideas on how to stop it?" implored Soos.

"None at all!" answered Mabel with a mix of sarcasm and hysteria. "Isn’t that spectacular!?"

"We need to find Dipper immediately," stated Frisk.

"You left him?!" shouted Soos in alarm.

"He left us!" insisted the kids.

"Well where is he now?" asked a worried Soos.

Frisk answered, "Probably still in the basement-"

"No, I'm okay!" said a voice that sounded just like Dipper. Sure enough, the trio discovered Dipper catching up to them, a slight wobble in his step.

Mabel gasped, exclaiming, "Dipper!" and shooting out of Soos' arms to crush her brother in a hug. "Are you okay, bro-bro?!"

"I-I'm good!" insisted Dipper. "Don’t worry guys! I’m alright!"

"Are you _all_ there though?" asked Frisk with worry.

Dipper nodded feverishly. "I can manage as long as Tim doesn’t chuck me at anything again."

Soos looked around with focus and fear. "Well I hate to be a downer, but the tin man’s been darting all around the shack. You guys need to get out of here!"

It was then that Mabel noticed Dipper still clinging on to the open journal. Mabel caught a glance of the line, **_“_** ** _fight to the death or run for your life._** ** _”_**

And her mind was made.

"We fight."

"No," said Frisk.

"Yes!" said Mabel. "We have to!"

"No you don’t," Frisk pressed. "Go with Dipper, I’ll handle this."

"Absolutely not!" said Mabel with a single fierce head-shake. "If you’re putting your life on the line, then so am I!"

Soos humbly stated, "I guess it’s too late to mention how bad of an idea i think that is?"

"Pretty much," said Mabel with a nod.

Dipper added, "I may be able to help out if i can reach Grunkle Ford’s office and get a hold of the magnet gun…"

Frisk extended their arms, asserting silence among the three, as the child thought up a plan.

"Soos," said Frisk when they were done, "go with Dipper. Protect him as he finds what he’s looking for. Mabel, come with me and…"

Mabel gave Frisk a look of hope. Frisk sighed, obviously uncomfortable with their next choice of words.

"Help me shut this robot down."

"You are wise beyond your years, my friend," said Mabel, standing proudly.

Despite the dire situation only growing in trouble, Frisk managed to smile. "Alright, let’s move!"

* * *

"ANNOYANCE LEVEL: CRITICAL," said the angry AI.

"ALLOW ME TO EXPRESS HOW MUCH I CARE ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL STATUS OF SOMEONE WHO NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON!" yelled Papyrus, immediately bombarding Tim with bones.

Tim easily dodged the bones, the bones instead demolishing the Fiji Mermaid, the Jackalope, and the Rock That Looks Like A Face. 

After dodging the bones, Tim immediately had to swerve to dodge a bunch of fireballs from Toriel, and the exhibit that depicted The Horse Riding A Horse was set ablaze. Using Toriel's shock as a window of opportunity, Tim escaped through the curtains…

...only to be immediately pounced on by Undyne, roaring in fury. Alphys was hiding behind the check out booth, while Napstablook tried, and continuously failed, to calm her nerves. Nearby, Mettaton observed her hysterical state, the monster-made machine growing more and more concerned.

Meanwhile, Asgore, having left the kitchen with some tea, dropped his tea set as his eyes stumbled upon the destruction that the rogue robot was causing. The king took a deep breath, lined up a shot, patiently waited for an opening…

And dislodged Tim’s left arm with one clean slice of his trident. The robot howled in anger, making the room rumble around it. Tim opted to switch its remaining arm for a sharp blade. Tim lunged to attack Asgore, but only made contact with his sturdy trident. They furiously swiped blows around the gift shop, tearing up all kinds of purchasable merchandise, while Alphys hyperventilated at the increasing destruction of the room, and the house in general.

Then tragedy struck.

The robot noticed Dipper again. He was with a burly man, named Soos, and the pest was trying to get to the vending machine. Tim picked Dipper up again, and lobbed him so hard that he cleared the living room, tumbled on the kitchen floor, and bashed his head on the table. Mabel and Frisk, arriving on the scene, witnessed it all.

The last thing that Dipper heard was an uproar of battle cries.

Mabel and Frisk lunged at the robot, forcing the rogue weapon to deal with _two_ weights fluctuating with its flight capacity. Meanwhile, Undyne made sure to land in any punch she could on the metallic freak while leaving the children unharmed.

The only warning anybody ever got before the room was engulfed in smoke was a single pair of words spoken by the only other robot in the room.

"Switch: On."

When the smoke had finally cleared, Frisk, Mabel, and Tim were sprawled on the floor. Where the rectangular Mettaton once stood, stood a svelte, shiny figure. If one squinted, they would swear that the being was covered with sparkles.

"Mettaton-EX..." whispered Frisk.

Mettaton-Ex acknowledged Frisk with a soft, sultry laugh, before turning his focus to the cyborg on the floor.

"I’m sorry darling," said Mettaton-EX, "but this has gone far enough~"

Mettaton-EX extended his arms, and picked up the robot as if it was an item of one or more disgusting qualities. And then, holding the robot like a football, Mettaton-EX used his noticeable legs to punt the robot straight through the ceiling.

**PWONNNGGG!!!!**

* * *

Sans was just chilling on the back porch couch when he was startled by a giant crash. Looking around, the usually lazy skeleton noticed a metal figure that had crashed through the roof, and it seemed to have an unhinged look in its eyes. It was clearly a rogue robot.

"ah geez..." grumbled Sans.

He quickly entered the now heavily damaged shack through the back porch door, and surveyed the area. It was a mess.

"ah _no_ …" groaned Sans. 

* * *

The showdown between robots began with a phrase.

"Let’s dance, freak~"

Tim charged at Mettaton-EX, who in turn flipped over Tim like a gymnast, before blasting the back of Tim’s head with a summoned missile.

Tim, irritated, gripped Mettaton-EX and rocketed upwards, in preparation to slam them both into the ground in a spiral motion. Tim made sure to double the intensity of grip in its remaining arm to make up for the one it lost.

However, since this motion meant Tim was staring at Mettaton-EX the whole time, Mettaton-EX caught Tim off guard by winking at the AI.

Taking advantage of Tim’s confusion, Mettaton-EX easily broke out of Tim’s grip and unleashed an upward midair kick, sending Tim airborne. Mettaton-EX gracefully landed on the ground while Tim regained balance in midair.

Tim cracked its metal neck.

Mettaton-EX blew his metallic hair out of his face.

And Tim blasted straight towards him. 

* * *

Poor Napstablook was silently freaking out, feeling awful that in his state, he couldn’t help fight the robot.

The miserable ghost was watching his cousin duke-and-dance it out with the aggravated metal monster, when suddenly Undyne got right up in the ghost's face.

"You’re not just gonna float in place and watch this all go down, are ya?" shouted the warrior.

"Huh…..?" stammered Napstablook. "What do you mean…………?"

"Well that robot IS designed to be your body!" said Undyne, feeling like she was stating the obvious. "Surely you should be able to do something!"

The nervous ghost stared at Undyne for a few seconds, before fading away. Undyne face palmed and growled in annoyance.

* * *

Back outside, Mettaton-EX braced for impact as Tim charged at him once more. But before anything can happen, Tim halted. Its eyes changed from red back to cloudy blue.

"What in the name of….?" whispered a puzzled Mettaton-EX

"Hi……………….." came a voice from Tim that wasn't its own. It sounded like...

"Blooky?!" yelped Mettaton-EX.

"Just a sec…………" mumbled Timstablook. "I need to…………….."

Mettaton-EX shrieked in horror as Timstablook tugged at his own head, beheading itself. While the AI was still active, it was now harmless.

[the remains of the robot crashed to the ground as Napstablook materializes as a ghost once more.

"Well…………….." said Napstablook, "I guess the suit works……………."

Mettaton-EX fainted, the shock having sapped him of all his battery life.

* * *

The Mystery Shack Gift Shop was a total wreck.

Papyrus was mumbling. Sans was gently kicking a lone scrap of shattered wood. Undyne was pacing back and forth. Toriel was rambling with worry. Asgore was fumbling with his hands. And poor Alphys was losing it.

"wow….." said Sans, whistling in subtle awe. "this place got trashed."

"Stating the obvious isn’t gonna fix the problem, Sans!" snarled Undyne.

"Oh dear oh my…" said Toriel, worryingly covering her own mouth with her hands. "I set one of the exhibits on fire…"

"Hey," said Wendy, "I took out at least three of them. I don’t think you’ll get the worst punishment out of all of us." 

"Yes, however it is no secret that your former boss hasn’t entirely warmed up to us," reminded Toriel, sadly. "Setting one of the exhibits on fire may force us to start all over again on gaining his trust."

Asgore tried to lift Toriel's spirits. "Well we did help to defeat the threat. I helped chop off his arm."

Toriel's spirits were _not_ lifted.

"And then you helped _demolish the entire gift shop!"_  scolded Toriel

"Woaaaah woah woah woah woah!" said Wendy, desperate to keep the peace. "Listen guys, this isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with a Mystery Shack in shambles. I’m sure that the only response Stanley will have to this mess will be something along the lines of being extremely peeved."

Asgore and Toriel only sighed.

"I sure hope so," said Asgore

"But we should still prepare to pack," admitted Toriel miserably. "I have a feeling this may have become our last day here."

"Wait, you guys can’t think about leaving!" begged a worried Soos. "W-we just figured out sleeping arrangements!"

Toriel chuckled dryly. "You must have realized that we monsters may have destroyed at least a half of those sleeping quarters in the process of getting rid of the sudden threat."

"But nobody sleeps in the gift shop!" insisted Soos, oblivious to Toriel's inner plight somewhat clouding her judgement.

"CHEER UP, LADY ASGO- I MEAN, MISS TORIEL!" said a hopeful Papyrus. "LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE! NOBODY WAS… HARMED…"

Everybody peered to the kitchen, reminded of the evidence that was against Papyrus’ claim.

* * *

 Mabel and Frisk were in the kitchen, frantically inspecting the wounded Dipper.

"I-Is he going to be alright?!" panicked Mabel

Frisk nodded. "He’s unconscious, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to put him in a coma. But we should still find a way to get him healed immediately."

"We should get Grunkle Ford!" suggested Mabel. "He’ll know what to do!"

Frisk shook their head this time. "We should save him as a last resort. He’d be furious with all of us if he see’s your brother in this state."

There was the sound of a door opening.

"Well y-yeah," admitted Mabel, "but what he’d do would be nothing compared to if we were caught by-"

 _"What in the ever loving frogs legs did you guys do to my house?!"_ barked a dangerously familiar gruff voice coming from the Gift Shop.

"Uh oh," said Frisk.

* * *

"How much longer will I have to throw my money away to rebuild this place until it quits getting demolished?!" shouted a ticked off Stanley Pines.

"Probably until the day you meet your inevitable death," commented Wendy.

"Yeah, probably," said Stan, before getting back on track. "But still, Soos and I aren’t made of money! And furthermore, THIS IS WHERE I LIVE!"

"come on, pops," said Sans, shrugging. "the only hole that was made in the roof is above the gift shop. just try to ignore the other giant hole that was once a chunk of the floor."

"All the merchandise is ruined!" shouted Stan in utter disbelief. "I told you not to touch the merchandise! And you touched _all_ of them! Not only that, you _broke_ all of them!"

"Pfft, sure, because the murderous robot did absolutely nothing wrong," hissed Undyne.

"I almost killed everyone!" shrieked Alphys, dangerously close to weeping.

"NO YOU DIDN’T, ALPHYS!" said Papyrus encouragingly. "THE _ROBOT_ ALMOST KILLED EVERYONE! WELL, MORE LIKE HE TRIED TO. AND WHAT'S EVEN BETTER, HE DIDN’T EVEN COME CLOSE TO SUCCEEDING! WELL EXCEPT FOR THAT NASTY ATTACK ON DIP-

 **"PAPYRUS!"** screamed everybody except Stanley.

"OH… I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT, WAS I?" said Papyrus, mortified.

The damage was already done. Stan got a worried look in his eyes, before noticing Frisk and Mabel holding the unconscious Dipper Pines. Stan went pale, quickly picking up Dipper. Only after he confirmed that Dipper is alive did he allow his face to scrunch. Stanley loudly banged on the vending machine and waited. A minute later, Ford opened it.

Stan handed the unconscious Dipper over to the shocked Ford, and muttered, "He needs medical attention. Head trauma."

Ford nodded, seeming more worried about Dipper's state than whoever was involved. He shut the door.

Finally, Stan turned around to acknowledge everyone in the room with a very dark glare.

"What. Do you have. To say for yourselves?"

There was only silence. 

Stanley lifted the grocery bag he was carrying, and furiously slammed it down on the floor, making most of the company gasp, except for Alphys who whimpered, and Undyne who seethed.

"I WANT ANSWERS!" exploded Stanley. "SILENCE ISN’T A GODFORSAKEN ANSWER!"

Alphys just couldn't handle it anymore. She hid her face with her hands and rushed out the door of the shack. Stan observed this with very little sympathy, which caused Undyne to start visibly shaking.

"So you mean to tell me that the only monster responsible for my grand nephew’s injury is the creature who is the most timid out of the lot of you?!" growled Stan.

"I KNOW, IT SOUNDS RIDICULOUS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, DOESN’T IT!?" screeched Undyne, finally snapping.

Stan was completely startled by the shout. He, and the rest of the monsters, suddenly noticed the tears running down the fish woman’s cheeks.

"WHO COULD BE SO CRUEL AND INCONSIDERATE TO MAKE A EMOTIONALLY STRUGGLING CREATURE FEEL RESPONSIBLE FOR POSSIBLE MURDER?!" asked the livid Undyne. "OH! I KNOW WHO! _THE MAJORITY OF THE HUMAN RACE, THAT’S WHO!!!"_

The furious Undyne proceeded to slam a spear into one of the clothing racks, obliterating it and leaving only shreds of fabric and a bunch of sawdust.

"U-undyne, y-you should go find Alphys…." stuttered Frisk, hoping to keep the room from getting any more damaged than it already was.

"Right, because I wasn’t already planning on that," hissed Undyne, fists clenched, shaking. "Good thinking, _punk."_

Undyne sprinted out the door. "Alphys!? Where are ya!?!"

With Undyne gone, Stan returned his gaze back to the monsters. "As for the rest of you, pack your things, and GET OUT!"

"Stan, come on!" said Wendy. "They saved a whole bunch of people today!"

"Oh I’m sorry!" spat Stanley. "I guess the next time Dipper is sprawled on the floor unconscious, _I’ll just turn a blind eye!"_

Wendy clenched her fist and looked around the shack, the sight of Stanley suddenly making her stomach turn.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Stan," said Toriel quietly. "We have been horrible guests. It would be in everybody’s interest if we left."

"Toriel, no!" said a desperate Asgore.

Toriel held up her hand, which silenced Asgore.

"However, it is up to Frisk,as they are our ambassador," finished Toriel.

Mabel looked at Frisk, worry etched all over her face,

Frisk looked back at her in return, pausing, before looking down and sighing in defeat.

"Everyone, we’re leaving," said Frisk, doing their best to avoid noticing Mabel's distressed look.

"Actually," said Stan, turning his attention to Frisk, " _you_ are going straight back home to your mom and dad, kid."

Frisk felt their heart sink.

"W-What?"

"You heard me," said Stan. "Dangerous monsters, crazy lifestyle, I can’t let you live that life," he continued, trying to get the phone. "You belong with your family."

Frisk shakily gestured to all of the monsters. "This _is_ my family. _They_ are my family!"

"Kid, no they’re not," said Stan, not seeming to get it. _Or worse,_ Frisk panicked, _he may just not care._

"Y-yes they are!" sputtered Frisk, beginning to lose their composure.

"No they are not!" barked Stan, getting ready to dial 9-1-1. "Now hang tight, dang it! I’m trying to get you back to your home!"

**_"YOU’RE TRYING TO TAKE ME AWAY FROM IT!!!"_ **

Stan flinches, startled to the point of dropping the phone. In his surprise, Stan found himself looking around to see multiple faces expressing horror or anger. And looking down, Stan saw a Frisk he had never seen before: a Frisk that was scared for their life.

Before Stan could say anything, Frisk turned around and rushed up the stairs. Several humans and monsters cringed when they heard a door get violently slammed shut. A couple moments later, Mabel gave Stan a look of anger and bewilderment, before chasing after Frisk, worriedly shouting “Frisk, come back!”

For a split second, nobody did anything.

The very splitting moment that that second was over, Stan found himself being lifted off the ground by a livid Toriel Dreemurr.

"How DARE you!?" roared Toriel, scaring Stan out of his wits.

"Hey hey wait a minute!" yelped Stan. "How was I supposed to know the kid was sore about that!?"

"My child made it VERY CLEAR on MULTIPLE OCCASIONS that they considered us to be their family!" responded Toriel, fire in her eyes.

"That could’ve been a result of a threat! Like you threatened to kill them if they didn’t refer to you as family!" said Stanley before his brain could tell him to _shut the hell up._

Toriel had to resist the urge to strangle the man. "Humans are not PAWNS TO US! We understand that each individual has their own story, their own secrets, their own triggers! In this instance, you disregarded all three! So I repeat, _HOW DARE YOU?!"_

"ummm tori?" spoke up a somewhat nervous sans, tugging at the goat woman's robe.

"What is it, Sans?" Toriel almost spat.

"we uh… never told the old man about the very little information we know about frisk’s past…" said Sans. "have we?"

Toriel's gaze softened. She closed her eyes, and set the horrified Stan down.

"I don’t believe we have," admitted Toriel, taking deep breaths.

"well let’s focus on that first," said Sans, focused, "and while we’re at it, hey asgore. how bout you go and help ford out with patching dipping sauce up?"

Stan almost stood up again. "No way! I’m not letting you near him-"

"gramps," said Sans, eyes closed in minor annoyance. "which would you prefer to have? a house free of monsters… 

"O R   A   D E A D   C H I L D ?"

Stan swallowed his pride.

"asgore," said Sans, "go help." 

"R-right," said Asgore. Remembering the code from his first visit, he enters the vending machine with ease.

"toriel," continued the short skeleton, "fill gramps in on the situation regarding frisk."

"Of course," said Toriel with a nod,

"and papyrus," sans finished, "go find your robot friend and his ghost cousin. they should be around here somewhere."

"OKAY," said Papyrus. "BUT WHAT WILL YOU DO?"

"i’m goin for a friggin walk."  

* * *

Mabel overheard hyper breaths coming from her and Dipper’s bedroom. Opening the door, she found Frisk in a pathetic state, the child curled up in a corner of the room, closest to her bed.

"Oh, Frisk…" whispered Mabel sadly. Walking up to them, she got ready to comfort Frisk, when out of nowhere-

Mabel was taken by surprise when a sudden flash of red engulfed the whimpering child, and quickly faded away. Mabel stood still as she watched the red flash continue to come and leave the child’s body, like a flickering light. Finally, Mabel spoke up.

"Frisk?" called Mabel softly. "Do you wanna talk?"

Frisk darted to stare at Mabel, their eyes still closed as always. Despite that, they had tears running down their cheeks, and they were already staining the new sweater Mabel had made for them. Mabel was distressed to see Frisk express emotions that were more fitting for a sky covered by a thunderstorm.

"P-please go away," said Frisk, barely getting their voice to work.

"No," said Mabel calmly. "I don’t want to just leave you like this."

"I want to be alone," said Frisk, unsure about what they actually wanted at that given moment.

"After the dirt that Grunkle Stan pulled," said Mabel, "I want to be alone too. Hey, why don’t we be loner buddies for a little bit?"

"I don’t really care…" mumbled Frisk.

Mabel only smiled. "I didn’t hear a ‘no,’ so I’m gonna automatically assume you said ‘yes.’"

Frisk managed a smile as well. "You would’ve probably gone through with it even if my answer was ‘no.’"

"Welp," said Mabel, comically shrugging, "you found me out! Congrats! Here comes your Prize Hug!

Mabel went straight in for a hug, which Frisk didn't bother refusing.

"I’m sorry about how I acted," said Frisk, after a while,

"Whaaaaaaaat?" responded Mabel, surprised. "Don’t be! Grunkle Stan was acting like a big pile of monkey warfare!"

Frisk found themself sputtering and laughing at Mabel's choice of words.

"Don’t tell me I’m lying!" said Mabel, winking.

"I wasn’t gonna!" insisted a smiling Frisk, before their smile faltered. "I still feel like I was judging him a little harshly. He was trying to keep me safe. He just…"

"He just went in, guns-a-blazing?" finished Mabel, giggling. "Yep, that’s Grunkle Stan."

Frisk looked down, melancholic. "So many things went wrong today…"

"Yeah, but so many things _didn’t_ go wrong!" said Mabel, happily. "This shack has a surprising amount of rooms, and they have all been destroyed before. I’d go as far as to say that this will be the smallest amount of property damage that the shack suffered through."

Frisk smiled again. "It’s very interesting that you refer to the Mystery Shack as if it is a person."

A slight blush crept its way onto Mabel's face. "Well, it’d be wrong for me to not put this building in high regard. It is my second home after all."

Another moment of silence flooded the room. But this time, it was a peaceful one.

"Grunkle Stan won’t take you away from your family," Mabel promised. "If he even tries, I won’t let him."

Frisk smiled with a hint of embarrassment. "H-hopefully you won’t have to do that. If I know my family well enough, Toriel is trying to reason with him at this very moment."

Mabel shrugged, smiling. "Well it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead. But yeah, I hope everything works out. I adore your family."

Frisk smiled warmly at that. "Yours is pretty neat too."

One last hug was shared between the two kids. And it was a good one.

But something new had come up, and Mabel wasn't going to let it be.

"Hey Frisk?"

"Yeah Mabel?"

"What exactly was that red flash of light engulfing your body?"

Almost as if a switch was flicked, all of the energy left Frisk's face, and their posture slumped.

"I was hoping you wouldn’t ask…" they admitted.

"Why wouldn’t I?" said Mabel, matter of factly. "It’s not exactly something I see everyday. And believe me, I would know if a sight is typical or not."

Frisk sighed. "Alright… I’ll tell you."

The kids decided to sit on the edge of Mabel's bed. Frisk cleared their throat, letting Mabel know that they were about to begin their explanation.

"I have… for lack of a better word… I have certain powers."

"Superpowers?!" squealed Mabel. "Frisk, you get cooler and cooler every second!"

"It isn’t cool," said Frisk.

"Huh? But-"

"It _isn’t cool."_ repeated Frisk.

Mabel went silent, understanding when she should just let it be.

"The monsters refer to this power as Determination," explained Frisk. "I don’t know if that’s what I would name it, but then again, the king never was really good with names."

Mabel only nodded in response.

Frisk continued. "There are apparently a multitude of things I could achieve with Determination but… thankfully… I have only discovered three. Each with varying levels of access. If its easier to access… then that means it has more of a chance of damaging everyone around me."

"And it… makes you glow?" guessed Mabel, her head cocked to the side.

"Apparently," answered Frisk. "I hadn’t noticed it till recently."

"Kay."

"The first one, and hardest to access," Frisk elaborated, "is called ‘REVIVE.’ Or at least, that’s what I call it. As you can probably guess, its a way of cheating death."

The growing of Mabel's eyes did not go unnoticed.

"It is nearly impossible to access, because of how unfair it is in the logical sense," said Frisk. "So, my survival instincts are unaffected. I can be just as scared as anybody else when their life is in danger. 

"The second is ‘RELOAD’. It takes me back in time to the most recent time i felt filled with Determination. However, in the process, any events that take place between that time and the ‘RELOAD’, are erased. Well, there are a few exceptions; things that are not affected by a RELOAD. It's... complicated to explain. The important thing is that most progress _is_ erased, so I tend to find ways to stay Determined on multiple occasions so I don’t lose as much progress in my journey through life whenever I have to RELOAD."

"Neatoooooooo," whispered Mabel in awe.

"And then the last one…"

Frisk almost couldn't say it. The word alone made them shudder. They took a deep breath.

"It is the most accessible. The most tempting. The most dangerous… it's called, ‘RESET.'"

"‘RESET?’" repeated Mabel.

"The power to erase all progress I have ever made in my life, and restart at the beginning of my journey through the Underground."

"That’s… horrible!" said Mabel, somewhat disturbed. "Why would that be the most tempting?"

"I was a different kid back then…" admitted Frisk. "Confused... lost… angry… all I needed was for someone to tell me that I could RESET at anytime and explore the consequences of different choices… anybody would’ve gone mad with power. Including me."

"Was… was that what that red glow was?" Mabel worriedly asked.

"Yes."

"Frisk..."

"I’m sorry," said Frisk. "I felt cornered…"

"Well you overcame it, and that's what matters," said Mabel. "But Frisk…"

"What is it, Mabel?" asked Frisk, unconsciously knowing what she was going to say.

Mabel looked down. "You do realize that… what you just said… means that you could very well be the Time Anomaly that Dipper’s new mysterious author is talking about?"

"I suppose so…" answered Frisk, sadly.

"yep, it would sure seem that way, huh?"

"Ack!" Yelped Mabel.

Right in front of the entrance to the bedroom was Sans, his smile ever-present.

"Okay," said Mabel, "I’m starting to agree with Dipper that you are super mysterious!"

Sans only chuckled. "it wouldn’t be news to me," he said, walking up to Dipper’s bed and sitting down on it. "but being mysterious isn't the reason i'm here. i just thought i should clear some things up regarding the kid, that's all."

Mabel looked at Frisk, who nodded. "...We're listening."

Sans out his arm behind his head and sighed. "it is true that frisk has capabilities that would qualify them as the mysterious ‘time anomaly.’"

Frisk and Mabel frowned.

"but… they aren’t the only one."

"Huh?" said Mabel.

"all i’m sayin is that frisk here ain't the only one who can treat time like a yo-yo. and lets not forget, frisk is a responsible child. they learned a long time ago that time is not a toy."

Sans began to stare of into space, a rare intensity in his eyes.

"but i can think of a few people who haven’t learned that lesson yet…"

Mabel gulped, finding the whole situation intense.

But then Sans let out a chuckle, and the intensity was gone.

"so don’t sweat it kid," Sans said to Frisk with a lighthearted smile. "i'm sure you’ll be alright."

"oh, and if anyone asks," said Sans before heading out the door, "i was takin’ a friggin’ walk."

The door shut with a *click,* and Sans was gone.

"Welp," said Mabel, hoping to release the tension, "you ready to head on back down there, Power Kid?"

"I guess I’ve been away long enough," said Frisk, before hugging Mabel tightly. "Thank you for being here, Mabel."

Mabel smiled warmly, returning the hug. "Anytime, Frisk."

* * *

Alphys was shaking underneath a tree when Undyne found her.

"Alphys!" shouted Undyne in relief. "There you are!"

"U-Undyne?!" said Alphys in surprise.

"What’re you doing under there?" said the fish lady.

"Feeling worthless," mumbled Alphys.

Undyne smirked. "And what have I told you about feeling worthless?"

Alphys wasn't able to help the giggle that escaped her. "That the feeling of worthlessness is actually just some idiot in my head that has never gotten a date before?"

"EXACTLY!" bellowed Undyne, nudging Alphys and making the lizard squeak in surprise. "You know that nothing that happened today was your fault, right?"

"But-"

"Whatever horrible thing you’re about to say about yourself," warned Undyne, "it's wrong. You made the robot. Not that awful AI."

"I programmed it into the robot-"

"Because you had no reason to believe it wouldn’t go crazy! You said yourself that it worked fine before…"

But Alphys was unable to let go of the misery that had a hold on her.

Undyne sighed. "Look, I get it if everything I am saying is simply going right through you… But don’t you EVER think I’m just gonna sit on the sidelines whenever I see you in distress. I gotta at least try, right?"

"Th-thank you Undyne…" stuttered Alphys happily. "Th-Th-that actually did help a little bit."

"If that old fart is still being a raging jerk by the time we get back, wanna watch me bash his face in?" asked Undyne with a grin.

Alphys blushed. "I-if it would make you happy…"

Undyne replied by kissing Alphys on the cheek. "If anything I do involves you in any way, then it is guaranteed to make me happy."

Alphys' eyes almost popped. "U-UNDYNE!!!" The flustered scientist began shaking and blushing heavily with thrill as well as embarrassment.

"What?!" responded Undyne, laughing loudly. "I’m just stating facts!"

Alphys and Undyne began their journey back to the shack, but not before they went in for one final warm hug under the snow-covered pine tree.

* * *

"And that, Mr. Pines, is what we know about Frisk’s life," finished Toriel.

A couple of seconds went by where nobody uttered a single word. Then everyone was slightly taken aback when Stan took off his glasses and brought out a handkerchief to wipe at his eyes, before putting it away and putting his glasses back on.

It took Toriel a second to speak again. "Well um… I honestly… Didn’t expect you to react so… emotionally-"

"Miss," interrupted Stanley, "I’m not gonna go into details, so let's leave it at this: A lot of my original family didn’t like me. And Frisk’s past reminds me a lot of my own. So uh…"

He almost couldn't say it. But he did.

"I’m sorry, okay?" muttered Stan, out of self-disappointment

Surprise briefly crossed Toriel's face before it was replaced with a warm smile. "Well, I see no reason to not forgive you."

Stanley sighed with relief. "Well that’s awfully nice of y-'

"But if you _EVER_ do anything like that to my child again, there _WILL_ be severe consequences," threatened Toriel, fire briefly sparking from her claws.

"Yes ma’am," quickly replied the startled Stanley.

At that moment, Sans and Papyrus returned to the gift shop from separate rooms, Papyrus dragging an unconscious Mettaton-EX behind him. Napstablook was also accompanying the tall skeleton.  

"I AM BACK WITH MY ROBOT FRIEND AND THE GHOST," Papyrus announced to Sans. "IT WOULD SEEM METTATON IS ASLEEP THOUGH."

"Oh………….. that's my fault……….." said Napstablook. "I made him short circuit in shock when i ripped the robot's head off…………while i was in it…………so it felt like i was ripping my own head off…………….i am scarred forever……………"

Sans gave Papyrus a thumbs up. "good work on getting them, bro. now all that’s left to worry about is mr. dip."

"ARE YOU SURE?" questioned Papyrus. "I COULD HAVE SWORN I SAW AT LEAST TWO OF MY FRIENDS RUN AWAY IN TEARS, SHOULDN’T WE WORRY ABOUT-"

"Don't worry guys!" called Mabel from the stairs with Frisk right behind her. "Frisk is okay!"

A second later, Alphys and Undyne entered through the gift shop entrance.

"W-we’re back!" said Alphys.

" _And I’m watching you,_ " Undyne growled at Stan, who simply coughed.

Sans smirked, looking back to his brother. "like i said, bro. all we need to worry about is dipper."

"And packing..." added Toriel, sighing. "All that has changed is that Frisk is staying with us."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but after what you guys did, whether purposeful or accidental, I can't let you guys stay," said Stan, taking off his beanie to scratch his head. "The only way I'd be willing to let it slide is if a miracle took place."

A split second later, Stanford Pines busted the vending machine open.

"STANLEY!" he screamed. "IT'S A MIRACLE!"

Stan gaped. "'Scuse me?"

And, in a turn of events straight out of a blockbuster movie, Dipper appeared behind Ford, all signs of damage gone.

"Hi guys!" said Dipper.

Stanley continued to gape. "EXCUSE ME?!"

"well ladies and gentlemen," said Sans, addressing the company, "we have our miracle. good job everyone, take five."

"DIPPER!!!" hollered Mabel, pouncing on Dipper and wrapping him up in a tackle hug.

"Oof! Easy there Sis!" warned Dipper with a smile. "I don't wanna throw up Asgore's medicine!"

"Asgore's medicine?" said Stanley, confused.

"It's astounding!" hollered an ecstatic Ford, with enthusiasm that could only be conjured up by a mad scientist. "Absolutely astounding! He just- He- All he did was- He just drank some tea!"

"Some tea?" said a flabbergasted Stanley Pines. "Are you telling me that this amazing little runt," he pointed at a sheepish Dipper, "completely recovered from a sever head trauma, all thanks to a simple beverage from the UK?!"

Not exactly, Mr. Pines," said Asgore, stepping out of the vending machine. "The tea was a concoction made from New Home. Or, as you know it, the Underground."

The eyes of Alphys lit up. "Of course!" she shouted. "Food from the Underground! Frisk was always able to recover all of their health when they ate or drank a source of energy that was prepared by any monster from the Underground! It would make sense that Dipper would experience similar effects!

"in simpler terms," said Sans, shrugging with his arms opened out, "food for monsters equals elixirs for humans."

Papyrus added, "AS LONG AS THE FOOD IS PROPERLY COOKED BY MASTERS OF ART! SUCH AS UNDYNE, OR THE GREAT PAPYRUS HIMSELF!"

"Riiiiiiiigghhht," said Mabel, hearing about the horror stories of Papyrus' cooking. She and Frisk shared a giggle.

Stanley plopped in his seat. "Wow. Over 60 years old and I'm still being taught new stuff."

Asgore chuckled, before a slight frown settled on his face. "Now, there's one more thing to discuss. I'd like to aid you, in all forms of financial support, to fixing your home before we take our leave." 

"Listen," said Wendy, butting in. "I don't know about you, but if somebody destroyed my house, knocked out one of my siblings, then immediately patched that sibling up 100% and started taking measures to fix everything without asking us to be financially responsible, I'd keep them around."

"She's got a point Mr. Pines," added Soos.

Stanley chuckled and gazed around the room, addressing all the monsters. "I may be a grouchy old man, but I'm not one to only acknowledge bad deeds while ignoring the good ones. I only wish it didn't take Toriel's gumption for me to realize how much worth you guys are to friends, family, and even strangers."

"I still don't know what that word means," Mabel said to Toriel, "but I think he was giving you a compliment."

The whole company laughed, the relief of stress making them all slightly giddy.

"You guys really are something else," said Stanley, smiling. "Your immediate attempts to patch Dipper up are more than enough proof of that. But then I see the current result of this kid right here," he said, pointing at the young Frisk, who sheepishly scratched the back of their head.

"Just _look_ at this kid! Who they once were, and who they are now, is because of you guys! No thieving doctors! No close-minded police! No shady orphanages. Just you guys! And I'll be darned if I ain't willing to show at least a sliver of respect for you guys."

All of the monsters were showing signs of deep appreciation. Toriel had her hands together, pressing them to her mouth. Asgore wiped his eyes. Napstablook _smiled_. Papyrus looked ready to beam, and he seemed to be blushing. Sans scratched the back of his head. Alphys bounced in place excitedly. And undyne tried her best to frown, but Stan could see the hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

Stanley turned to his brother to talk about his short monologue. "How was that?" he asked.

Ford smiled. "As always, your grammar could use some work. But otherwise, I couldn't have said it better myself.

The brothers shared a grin before Stan returned his attention to the monsters.

"So in case it wasn't painfully obvious," joked Stan, "I'm allowing you guys to stay."

The room almost exploded (AGAIN) from the celebrations.

Stanley chuckled before nervously tugging at his collar. "Now it ain't- ahem- _isn't_ going to be easy. I'm gonna be coughing up a lot of money. I appreciate your willing to help, but I dunno if the greedy community I'm stuck with will accept your form of currency."

"You're probably right," said Asgore sullenly. "I'm unsure if our currency in Gold means anything on the surface anymore-"

Stanley almost froze. _"Gold?"_

Asgore continued, not hearing Stanley's stunned response. "I don't think we'd even be able to afford a measly dollar with over 8 quintillion Gol-"

"THAT DOES IT!" interrupted a shocked and ecstatic Stanley Pines, slamming his hands down. "NONE OF YOU GUYS ARE LEAVING THIS HOUSE, DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!"

The entire gift shop reverberated with the uproar of laughter from everybody.

And just a couple feet away from the joyful pandemonium, were Mabel, Frisk, and Dipper, all three of them watching the chaotic group with smiles on their faces.

Frisk let our a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that sorted itself out."

"Asgore had told me about what happened while I was out," said Dipper, playfully adding, "The faces I'm seeing right now make me think that Asgore was lying to me."

"The ruckus of happy families," commented Mabel, beaming. "You gotta love it!"

All three of the kids giggled.

Frisk eventually turned to look at the twins. Dipper had on a warm smile, while Mabel's face looked ready to burst with joy.

"Looks like you're stuck with us~" said Mabel, practically squeaking.

"And you know what?" concluded Dipper, "We are perfectly okay with that."

Frisk beamed, lunging at the twins with a fierce hug, which Dipper and Mabel happily reciprocated.

As all three of them hugged it out, Frisk noticed the face of Sans peaking out from the crowd, and giving them a wink.

Frisk responded with a big smile and a double thumbs up, before returning to what Mabel would later name 'The Best Hug In The World.'

* * *

In a dark chamber, a warning from Tim continues to drone.

"DOOM SHALL COME TO ALL. THE ANOMALY WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWA-"

"Quiet, you!" Ford hissed at the shelved head of Tim. "I'm experimenting with chemicals that are so unstable, a _sound wave_ strong enough could cause it to burst!"

"Apologies," said the head of Tim, bringing his voice down to a robotic whisper. "Is This Better?"

"Much," said Ford, returning to his work. 

* * *

_Always define a family based on the ones that love and care for you._

* * *

## 20-8-5 18-15-2-15-20 23-1-18-14-9-14-7-19 1-18-5 19-21-16-5-18 21-14-3-12-5-1-18. 1 14-1-13-5-12-5-19-19 4-1-14-7-5-18 19-16-18-15-21-20-19 15-14-12-25 13-15-18-5 6-5-1-18.  


	6. And "Vroom" Goes the Motorbike

"You sure you don't want me to get the first aid kit in case something happens?" said Blubs.

"Relax, pumpkin! I'm only hammering pamphlets! I'm not commanding a war!" joked Durland.

The sheriff and deputy laughed, enjoying each other's company like they always have.

"You two are the best!" said Mayor Tyler Cutebiker. "How is the signing form looking?"

"Pretty good!" said Durland. "Only two empty spots left! And by the looks of this list, it seems we may finally have a Bike Romp race that won't be accompanied by-"

The sheriff, deputy, and Mayor of Gravity Falls were suddenly overcome by a chill from the wind. Signposts rattled, banners flapped, critters panicked.

Then, just as the subtle clamor was at its peak, it ceased. Not a single sound.

"Huh," said Mayor Tyler, turning around to get back to work. "That sure was peculi- AAH!"

Right in front of the mayor stood an ominous figure at least a foot higher than him. Donning a chiseled form, the mysterious figure was clad in black leather, short spikes decorating the shoulders of the figure's coat and the knuckles of its gloves. The figure's belt, tightly strapped around its waist, was decorated with flames along the strap, and a jack-o-lantern pin was used for a buckle. The shoes were not much to look at, except that a wispy smoke seemed to emit beneath wherever the ominous creature stood. The helmet didn't stand out much either, a black paint job and a glass visor dark enough to look opaque being its only features. There was only one solid reason that the helmet managed to draw attention:

"Seven years, and you still wont show us what's behind that helmet of yours," remarked Sheriff Blubs, hiding his nervousness with a huff.

"Well well! If it isn't the Blind Biker!" exclaimed Tyler with open arms, opting to hide his fear with his ever-perky attitude. "The legendary twenty year Bike Romp champion! Nice to finally meet you!"

The Blind Biker turned slightly to stare down the mayor of Gravity Falls. Tyler gulped, worried that he said something to upset the racer.

_"I still don't understand why you insist on referring to me by that ridiculous title."_ said the Blind Biker, with a low, gruff, ghostly voice. _"You look different, I might add."_

"I'm uh... new!" said Tyler, sweating. "The um... previous mayor... Mayor Eustace "Huckabone" Befufftlefumpter... he died."

This gave the Blind Biker pause. _"My condolences."_

"Accepted," responded Tyler, before calling out to Durland. "Would you kindly hand me the sign up board, Mr. Durland?"

"Y-yes sir!" said Durland, warily eyeing the Blind Biker as he did so.

The Blind Biker readied the pen to sign when a name caught his attention.

_"Who is this?"_ asked the Blind Biker, with slight disapproval at the simple name.

Tyler took the board gently to read the name pointed out. "Oh! He's a new contestant! Kind of a rowdy young fellow, hot headed too. And a bit of a jerk. But he seemed set on winning, so we let him in!"

_"He's set on winning, huh?"_ said the Blind Biker. _"Here's to hoping that this newbie isn't all talk, then."_

The Blind Biker slowly scribbled his ironic nickname into the clipboard, right under the signature of the supposed new racer:

**Robbie Valentino**

* * *

##  **_[GravityTale](http://teffyjeffy.tumblr.com/post/141345215646/gravitytale-with-whisper) _ **

* * *

The trap was set. The kids were in position.

"Ready?" asked Dipper, grinning with flaring mischief.

"Ready," responded Frisk, with a devious smirk.

"Three... Two... One..."

Mabel emerged from the bedroom. "Goooooooood Morning! Why are you guys counting dow-"

"BLEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!"

Dipper and Frisk unsheathed their deadly weapons, blasting Mabel continuously with wave after wave of colorful Goofy String. Mabel shrieked, quickly slipping into a giant fit of laughter along with the two masterminds of the attack. Only once the cans were empty did Dipper and Frisk cease fire.

"W-we might have overdone it, Dipper," wheezed Frisk, their lungs being bombarded with laughter so hard that they couldn't voice it. "I th-think we turned your sister into a mummy."

"Nah," Dipper responded. "I think what we did was the perfect amount."

The mummified Mabel was currently on the floor, laughing so hard that Dipper pondered if her braces might fall off.

"Suit yourself," said Frisk, smiling. "I'm going to help Mabel get out of all this Goofy String."

Dipper eventually joined Frisk in the cleanup. Frisk's concern of overdoing the prank became justifiable, considering how long the cleanup took. It took forever to get every strand of string out of the sweater that Mabel was wearing. Thankfully, none of the strings had ended up in her mouth.

Dipper and Frisk were removing the final strand of goofy string when the trio heard a voice.

"Frisk?" called the voice from downstairs. Its calm, firm, female tone helped the children deduce that the voice belonged to Toriel. "Is everything alright up there?"

"Everything's just fine, Mother!" replied Frisk, withholding a set of giggles.

"Well then please get down here as soon as you can!" Toriel called back, loudly but calmly. "Your toast is getting cold! I would use fire magic, but I had managed to get the toast to a perfect balance of crisp and fluff, and I certainly wouldn't want to risk losing it by heating it up any more than necessary-"

"I'll be right down!" interrupted Frisk, still trying not to giggle.

"Okay, sweetie!" called Toriel. The children picked up the sound of fading footsteps, as Toriel stepped away from the stairs to return to whoever she was previously conversing with.

It was at that moment that Mabel's stomach decided to growl. Dipper and Frisk stared at Mabel, a look of slight surprise developing on Frisk's face.

Dipper chuckled. "Well Frisk, we better not keep anybody waiting. A Hungry Mabel tends to be a Scary Mabel."

"I agree that we should head down," said Frisk, switching their attention to Mabel before adding, "but only because I do not wish to have nightmares fueled by the terrors of Hungry Mabel."

"If that dark day should ever arrive, I promise that you will be spared," announced Mabel proudly.

"Lucky," said Dipper, rolling his eyes and earning himself a slight chuckle from Frisk and Mabel.

"Queen Tree Frog is growing slightly agitated now," stated Mabel. "Queen Tree Frog will go have breakfast now!"

She then marched down the stairs, greeting everybody with a loud "Good Morning!"

Dipper and Frisk stared at her fading figure for a couple seconds before Frisk fixed their ever-deadpan stare on Dipper.

"Queen Tree Frog?" asked Frisk, bluntly.

"Self proclaimed title," explained Dipper.

"A survivor of multiple monster attacks, a master of knitting, one of the most energetic people in the world, and yet she settles on being the Queen of only Tree Frogs?"

"Yes?" replied Dipper, not knowing what else to say.

Frisk remained silent for a few seconds, before beginning their descent down the stairs. "Sounds to me like she doesn't give herself enough credit sometimes..."

* * *

It had been three days since Frisk and the monsters had been established as arguably permanent residents of the Mystery Shack. And a lot of plans had to be made.

The first one was sleeping arrangements. A shack could only hold so many creatures. Soos suggested maybe expanding the shack, but Stanley immediately shot it down, arguing that a "Mystery House" wouldn't attract nearly as many customers. Stanford chuckled and shook his head, amused that Stanley was still giving advice on how to run the shack, whether legal or illegal, despite that he had been the one to suggest shutting down the shack, before Soos intervened, four months ago.

Fortunately, sleeping arrangements weren't difficult to arrange. With the monsters having endured the awful living conditions from the Underground, Asgore explained, chances were that whatever room of the shack a monster was given, they'd accept it. So putting that into consideration, the first decisions made were for sleeping quarters for the human folk.

Stan decided to sleep in Soos's office. He explained that for the majority of his time running the shack, he was in the office, passed out from all the paper work (he swiftly avoided the fact that he used to arrange his paperwork into two giant stacks, labeled "legal" and "illegal" respectively). So it was agreed that Stan would find it easy to fall asleep in his former office.

As for Stan's former bedroom, it would be used by Soos. It wasn't exactly news - Soos was sleeping in Stan's bedroom for quite sometime before and after Frisk showed up - but Stan had to deal with Soos's insistence that he should sleep in the office and have Stanley take back his previously owned bedroom. It took Stan saying "You don't need to do that," three times for Soos to concede.

It didn't go without saying, but Wendy felt obligated to tell Toriel not to worry about establishing a bed for her. Despite her frequent presence in the Mystery Shack, she explained, Wendy still had a home to go to, and a bed to sleep on, complete with a bear skin blanket. Immensely itchy, but homey itchy.

Ford slept where he had been sleeping ever since he returned to the shack: his old study. With all traces of Bill having been discarded from his room, as well as all traces of Bill's existence having vanished in almost every sense of the word, Stanford found it immensely easier to fall asleep in his shabby research room. However, just to be safe, Stanford still made certain to remain tight lipped about Bill, especially to the new guests.

The Mystery Twins bedroom was shared by the three lovable rascals: Dipper, Mabel, and Frisk. Because of the absence of a third bed, Wendy suggested pitching in a sleeping bag. The kids accepted it. The trio would cycle through who would get the sleeping bag each night, despite Frisk's iterations that they could always take the sleeping bag while the twins kept their beds. Mabel's energetic insistence eventually won them over.

With human sleeping arrangements taken care of, it was time to move on to the monsters'.

Undyne and Alphys got the living room. They'd share the couch, watching anime quietly until they passed out. When Dipper asked Alphys how the heck she managed to convince Undyne to not shout out loud for such a long period of time every night, Alphys giggled. She said that all she has to do is propose being quiet as a challenge, and Undyne's mouth would only usher soft whispers for the rest of the night. To the scientist's intense embarrassment, Undyne also piped in that the other solution that Alphys had, and used much more frequently, was to kiss the living daylights out of her.

Mettaton slept in the basement, in the very same corner where the infamous Tim once stood. Alphys was beginning to establish the basement as her new lab for the time being, but Stanford would always remind her that she was welcome to stop by his study at any time, if she ever wanted a fellow scientist to converse with. Dipper noticed a peculiar response come from Sans after that exchange, the short skeleton firmly placing his hands in his shirt pockets, his eye sockets staring off to the side at nothing in particular.

Speaking of Sans, he and Papyrus ended up getting the highest points in the Mystery Shack: the attic and the roof. In record time, the skeleton brothers had established their territory; Papyrus set up the roof as a lookout station (he would keep lookout until he accidentally fell asleep each night), and Sans transformed the attic into his personal pigsty. Sans had to swear to keep the attic's scent pleasant, and so far, he had been keeping his word. Both Dipper and Mabel couldn't help but admit that it was a pretty amazing feat for Sans.

Asgore's choice of sleeping quarters seemed the most peculiar, with his decision being to sleep on the couch located in the back porch of the shack. His reasoning was that it gave him a perfect view of the backyard. Although lackluster in terms of flowers, it brought the warmest of smiles to the former King's face. And though she would deny it to the ends of the earth, witnessing Asgore's content smile made Toriel's mouth twitch upwards by the tiniest amount.

Napstablook was given the parlor. Soos was actually quite shocked when the ghost agreed to it so quickly. Sure, the room was loaded with reasons for being totally amazing, at least to Soos, but it wasn't like the place had a bed to sleep on. Even the attic had a little ledge near the window that made do as a bed. But the storage room? Not a thing.

Napstablook didn't have it in him to tell Soos that ghosts didn't sleep.

Toriel's room was much more sensible than the rest; she ended up getting Stanford's old room. Thankfully, the room had long ago been wiped clean of any oddities that could easily be messed around with, including the Electron Carpet. Toriel felt a little guilty, considering she seemed to be the only monster that managed to get an actual bedroom while the rest got couches, ledges, or no bed at all. But the rest of the monsters were quick to reassure the Ex-Queen that it didn't bother them at all.

That concluded the business of sleeping arrangements. And that left only one giant thing that needed to be addressed.

Fixing the shack.

* * *

Three days later, the gift shop was only a couple fix-ups away from finally reopening to the public. The group would have to deal with the fact that the last two fix-ups would take a lot of effort to finish. Gaping holes in the floor and ceiling, made by a crazed AI named Tim, didn't exactly disappear overnight.

Alphys and Undyne were responsible for the basement. This would be the beginning of Alphys's plans to redecorate the basement into a new lab for herself, something that Undyne highly approved of. Dipper almost caught them in the act of messing with the pinball machine once it was fixed, challenging the other to beat their high score. They were saved from being told on when Mabel yanked Dipper out of the basement to help her unroll the new sleeping bag for their bedroom.

Wendy was the one who made sure that nothing, and no one, fell over during the process of repairing the shack, and Sans was always cracking jokes to make sure that people didn't fall off of ladders on purpose. It took a lot of convincing for Sans to stay away from poorly constructed puns, the argument being that they would have the opposite effect of Sans's role of keeping everyone alive. When the duo wasn't doing their assigned jobs, Wendy and Sans spent most of their time goofing off, unsurprisingly, but all it took was a bellow from Stan and a holler from Papyrus to get the slackers back to work.

Papyrus and Mettaton were given the job of fixing up the kitchen. This was because they both could get sidetracked at the drop of a hat, and the kitchen required the least amount of work to tidy up. Mabel once caught Papyrus shouting at Mettaton in frustration, the robot refusing to abstain from posing glamorously on top of the table. Eventually, Papyrus shook the table, throwing off Mettaton's balance and making the robot shriek. Mettaton clung to the refrigerator, forcing Papyrus to ditch the table and practically ram himself into the fridge, to keep it from toppling over. All the while, Mabel was silently chanting, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Toriel was mostly responsible for restocking the gift shop with all of its purchasable goods. Thankfully, she discovered that Soos had put the storage room to good use, the room packed with all the items destroyed in the fiasco.

Asgore was tasked with paying for all of the exhibits that were destroyed in the museum section. Asgore was astonished with how much gold was actually worth on the surface now, having to only lend a measly 100 gold to get all of the damaged exhibits fixed up. Stan was super tempted to coax a little more out of the king, but he immediately backpedaled, knowing that he was taking an unfair advantage of the situation. The reason was definitely _not_ because he had received a death glare from the three children. Not at all.

As for Ford...

He had been locking himself away in his study. The near loss of his great nephew, after only a week after reuniting with the twins, had more or less put the scientist on edge. He was nowhere near as paranoid as he was when he had to worry about his original journals, but that didn't mean that Stanford wasn't anxious regarding what this could all mean for the future. If the warnings of Tim('s head) were correct, and there really was a time anomaly threatening Gravity Falls, he had to find a way to build something to track it.

He'd be darned if he was going to go down in history as the man who failed to prevent an apocalypse _twice._

* * *

Life with the monsters was one snafu after another. Breakfast was no exception.

Because of all the new guests, Stan caved and allowed Soos to purchase a bigger table for the kitchen. A little arranging later, and the table was snug in the center of the room, with surprisingly plenty of space to mingle. Thank goodness.

"What do you mean you don't eat rocks for breakfast?!" shouted Undyne in bewilderment to Wendy.

"Undyne, I didn't say that we don't eat them, I said that we _can't_ eat them," said Wendy, her feet propped up on the table.

"Sheesh. You're missing out sis," Undyne remarked, devouring another stone, washing it down with a glass of lime juice.

Wendy took a moment to gaze around the room, when her gaze fell upon Mettaton. The show off had decided to bring his humanized body to breakfast, managing to flaunt even when he was sitting down. Her grin grew wider as she noticed that Mettaton-EX was seated directly on the opposite side of Undyne, still drinking her lime juice.

"When I was young, my family and I would go hunt for breakfast. I punched a bear in the face," said Wendy, grinning.

Predictably, Undyne spat out her drink in surprise, the acidic liquid heading straight for Mettaton-EX at remarkable speeds. It was like clockwork.

Or it would have been like clockwork, if Papyrus didn't launch out of his seat and leap in front of Mettaton-EX like a soccer goalie, taking the sour fruit-liquid point-blank in the face.

The skeleton collapsed; his body sprawled on the floor, and his head currently rolling out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Wendy was currently losing it, with a baffled Mettaton-EX in front of her, a coughing Undyne sitting next to her, and Toriel staring daggers at her. Wendy was in heaven.

The only reason Toriel restrained herself from reprimanding anybody was because of Frisk, the child wearing the happiest of smiles she had ever seen on them. Frisk had acknowledged the situation with lighthearted humor, before returning to their conversation with the twins. Toriel couldn't help but smile. Her child was getting along so well with their own kind, something she feared would be problematic for Frisk when they all had returned to the surface.

Finally finished with reminiscing, Toriel spoke up. "Alright everyone! Last call for seconds! After that, we all gotta get back to work!"

Of course, everybody wanted seconds.

* * *

"You guys never told me Soos was married!" said Frisk in surprise to the twins, the three of them standing around at the gift shop with Soos and Wendy.

"Well, we never really had the chance," said Dipper, scratching the back of his head with slight embarrassment. "What with the new journal, the ice monster, and Tim, it was kind of hard to keep track of things we've shared with you."

"And speaking of keeping track, I've been meaning to ask," Mabel said to Soos, who was sweeping the floor of the gift shop, "Why isn't Melody here?"

Soos stood up to quickly wipe his brow. "Oh not to worry, dudes. We're still inseparable. She's just spending her Christmas break with her family! It's sort of traditional for her."

"Will we be able to see her before we have to leave at the end of winter break?" asked Mabel.

"I think so," answered Soos, getting back to sweeping. "She did say that she wanted to spend a little bit of her break at the Mystery Shack, so I would guess there is a good chance you'll be able to see her."

"YAAAAAAAY!" shouted Mabel, her hands in the air.

"All the more reason to get this place patched up!" concluded Soos, smiling proudly.

"That's not really a good reason," said Dipper ignorantly, "She isn't showing up until the end of winter brea-"

"Dipper," butted in Grunkle Stan from the living room, "What Soos is trying to say is, 'GET BACK TO WORK!'"

Dipper pouted, fastened his cap, and went off to find something to do in the Mystery Shack. The sooner it was all fixed, the sooner he could get back to studying the black journal. He clenched a hand on the book in his pocket as he thought about it.

Mabel and Frisk watched Dipper as he exited the gift shop, before the two remaining kids looked to each other and shrugged.

"I don't like his fixation with that journal," commented Frisk.

"Me neither," said Mabel. "But in his defense, the last time he got fixated on a journal, it helped us save the world."

Frisk smirked. "You say that so nonchalantly."

Mabel gave Frisk a playful glare. "You're one to talk! You act like you save an entire species every other week!"

Frisk giggled nervously. "Is my face that expressionless?"

Mabel patted Frisk on the back. "Naaaaaah! Actually, now that I think of it, you've been getting slightly better!"

"Although I can't say I notice any difference," said Frisk, "I appreciate the compliment."

"As you should!" said Mabel proudly.

A sudden snicker came from the cash register desk.

Mabel and Frisk turned their attention towards the desk, noticing Wendy trying to hide a giant smile behind the magazine she was reading.

"Ummmmm what's got your funny-bone, Wendles?" asked Mabel, curious and suspicious.

"She's probably thinking about that moment during breakfast when she made Undyne spit out her drink," answered Frisk.

"Nope," said Wendy, still slightly laughing. "Though that moment was totally priceless."

"Well then what is it?" asked Frisk.

"Nah, I shouldn't say," said Wendy, her smile only growing.

"Oh come on!" said Mabel, smiling. "Tell us!"

"Nope," said Wendy, before performing her familiar motion of locking up her mouth and throwing away the key.

Mabel frowned cutely and crossed her arms, knowing that she wasn't going to get anything out of Wendy for the time being.

But when Wendy turned the page of her reading material, the redhead's face grew more neutral, showing interest in whatever article she had discovered. "Well well well."

"Well well what?" said Mabel, lifting herself up onto the desk, Frisk following suit.

"Hey Stanley!" Wendy called to the living room. "You might wanna see this!"

"Not now!" retorted Stan, eyes glued to, surprisingly, a news broadcast playing on the TV screen. "I'm busy!"

"Busy, he says," joked Wendy, earning herself a laugh from the two kids. "Well, before I tell you about this article, you guys should know about this annual competition we have in Gravity Falls."

"A game?!" asked Mabel in a hopeful voice.

"Sort of?" said Wendy, shrugging. "It's called 'Bike Romp.'"

"Ooooooooooh!" said the kids.

Wendy chuckled. "Yeah, cool name right? It's this motorcycle race tournament that is held every year in Gravity Falls. Why they chose to have it during winter of all seasons is beyond me. But still, it's pretty fun to watch.

"Wellllll it's fun to watch _now_ anyways," continued Wendy. "My dad told me that when it first started, the competition was a total bust. A snooze fest. Whether that's true or not, I wouldn't know. But just as the mayor was about to cancel the race forever..."

Wendy lightly tossed her magazine on the desk, the object spinning around slightly before halting. Wendy then pointed at a specific image in the visible article.

"This guy showed up."

Mabel and Frisk observed the open page and took a gander at the mysterious figure covering up the majority of the page. The figure was labeled as "BB" in the title of the article.

"Who's that?" asked Mabel.

"The town calls him 'The Blind Biker,'" answered Wendy with a hint of creepy suspense.

"That's a stupid name," commented Frisk bluntly.

"Yeah, it kind of is," admitted Wendy. "But don't let the stupid name fool you. Ever since he showed up in his first race, he did nothing but win them. This guy rules the racetrack with an iron fist. Well, an iron fist, and a killer motorcycle."

"And if the contents of this article aren't oozing with lies like the rest of this hilarious magazine is," Wendy concluded, "then it looks like..."

"The Blind Biker is back," called a voice from the TV screen.

"Guys! Guys! Get in here!" bellowed Stan excitedly.

Eventually, Wendy, Mabel, Frisk, and Soos were all huddled in the living room with Stan, watching the television.

"That's right, you've all heard it first from Shandra Jiminez," announced the television, "Even though Bike Romp is scheduled to begin in only a few hours, The Blind Biker has returned to Gravity Falls. The racer who holds a twenty year record of winning 1st place at the annual Bike Romp competition. And by the looks of things, this year won't be any different."

"Several racers have crossed out their names on the sign-up board only today, after hearing of the return of the Blind Biker. Those that remain are the ones who are stubborn, the ones who are courageous, and the ones who simply don't know the Blind Biker well enough. In fact, some contestants among the remaining roster are newcomers to Bike Romp. One man among these remaining contestants is the former owner of the Mystery Shack, Stanley Pines-"

"WHAT?!" shouted Wendy.

Stanley bellowed with laughter, shutting off the TV and tossing the remote. "That's right! Watch out Bike Romp! Your first place title will soon be in the hands of Stanley Pines!"

"Wow Mr. Pines!" said a shocked Soos. "I never saw you as the type of guy to do this!"

"That's because in the past," said Stan smugly, "I was too busy getting rich to care. But with the responsibility of running the shack finally out of my hands, I am free to demolish any kind of competitive game I encounter!"

"Your method of driving involves _crashing into everything_ ," enunciated Wendy. "You try to do that on a motorcycle? You're toast."

"Yeeeeaaaaaah no offense Grunkle Stan," added Mabel, "but I don't see this ending well."

"You'll be pulverized," finished Frisk.

Stanley smirked, getting out of his seat. "Deny my victory all you want. All it does is strengthen my resolve to win this thing! Now if you lovely runts will excuse me, I have a motorcycle to polish!"

When Stan exited the living room, Ford entered the living room soon after.

"I heard the whole thing," said Ford with a sigh. "He's been at this ever since he got back, and he hasn't been very secret about it. Still, I was hoping that the return of this creepy racer that I have never heard of, who goes under the alias of 'Blind Biker,' would've at least given my brother pause."

"He's making a big mistake," said Wendy.

"Probably," said Ford.

"Someone should make sure he doesn't do anything ridiculous," said Wendy.

"Definitely," said Ford. "I'll do what I can to keep him out of any dangerous situations. The rest of you should focus on finishing the rebuilding of the Mystery Shack."

"Actually, this is probably all the time we'll have to fix up the shack today," butted in Soos.

"Oh?" said a confused Stanford. "Why is that? It isn't even noon yet." 

"Oh yeah, I should've mentioned earlier," said a chortling Soos, pulling out a piece of paper. "Mayor Cutebiker really wants to get to know the new monsters from the underground, so he wanted to deliver an important parchment to whoever was in charge, inviting them to come and see the event along with the rest of the monsters. So uh, I guess I should give this parchment to Frisk."

Frisk walked up to Soos, gently taking the paper and thanking him. They skimmed through the paper, a determined look growing on their face.

"I accept this invitation," said Frisk boldly. "I should probably eventually get Dad to notify the rest of the monsters."

"Right now?" said Mabel solemnly. "But I was hoping to show you the newest sweater I made for you."

Frisk took a moment to think it over. "Tell you what, before we all head out to see the race, remind me about the sweater, and I will gladly wear it at the event."

"Sounds good to me!" said Mabel.

"Okay, well I guess this means that the rest of us will take care of the shack while you and your family are absent," Ford said to Frisk politely.

At that comment, Wendy tugged at her collar, embarrassed. "Yeah about that... one of my friends is in the race, and he pulled some strings to get us all some tickets. And with the Blind Biker sneaking around, I'd say that my attendance has become mandatory. Someone has to make sure my friend manages to leave the race unscathed."

"And as ambassador, I request that Dipper and Mabel are also aloud to see this competition," added Frisk.

"As congresswoman, I accept this request!" shouted a beaming Mabel.

"But I can't stay here!" stressed Stanford. "I have to make sure my blockhead of a brother doesn't set the entire derby on fire!"

"Oh that's alright Mr. Stanford," said Soos reassuringly. "I'm sure I can manage this place by myself for however long this race takes."

Stanford sighed. "You know what? Let's just forget about the shack for now. Soos, you might as well come along with everyone to see the race."

Soos's eyes lit up. "That's awfully nice of you to say Mr. Stanford! I guess I'd better switch to my street clothes, huh?" He headed off in that direction before anybody could answer.

"And I suppose I should get a head start on keeping a watchful eye on Stanley," said Ford, rolling his eyes and heading for the driveway.

"Will you go to the event with us?" asked a hopeful Mabel.

"Yes, but not right away," answered Stanford, smiling. "Like I said, I'll have to keep an eye on your Grunkle Stan. But once Stanley is at the track, I'll make sure to find you guys in the stands."

"Kay-o!" said Mabel, satisfied with Ford's answer. "See you then!"

"Goodbye for now!" called Stanford, before closing the door behind him.

"Well,  _I_ should probably go get us all some snacks," commented Wendy, finally standing up. "We gotta keep as much money as we can to take care of the hole in the floor. And since I haven't really been tasked to help contribute to the floor, I can put my money to use elsewhere. That way, none of you guys have to pay ridiculous prices to get hotdogs at the derby."

But just as Wendy was about to head off, a knock came at the gift shop entrance.

Wendy smirked. "I have a pretty good idea about who that could be at the door."

Mabel and Frisk followed Wendy as she walked up to the entrance door and softly swung the door open.

On the other side was a lanky, brooding teenager. His hair was pitch black, with eyeliner to match, the makeup making him look extremely tired. He wore a dirty zipper hoodie, decorated with a stitched up heart in the center. His jeans weren't much, with no stitches or holes to decorate them, but the pockets were currently occupied by the man's hands. But despite all of the grimy, punk features, the teenager was wearing a warm smile.

"What's up, Robbie?" said a grinning Wendy, raising her hand up for a high five.

"Heyyyyy Wendy!" replied Robbie, completing the high five. Wendy then stepped away from the doorway to let Robbie inside.

"The rest of the squad is already at the racetrack stadiums," said Robbie, using his thumb to point back at the group that was surely blocks and blocks away from the shack. "I just wanted to make a quick stop here to make sure you were still coming."

"Of course I'm still coming, doofus!" said Wendy, lightly punching her friend in the arm. "It's just that things have just been pretty crazy over here, so I'm a little more occupied than usual."

It was then that Robbie noticed the giant hole in the floor. "Woah. Is that what you're talking about?"

"That's part of it," said Wendy, before turning towards Frisk and Mabel. "But the majority of activity has been because of the plethora of new faces living under this roof. Faces that're old and new."

Robbie followed her line of sight until he noticed Mabel. A gritty laugh escaped from his lips, as he smiled.

"Well well!" said Robbie. "Mabel Pines! How in the ever-hateful world are you?"

"I am absolutely dazzle-lutely spectacular!" said Mabel, shaking the punk-ish friend's hand. "So you're going to be racing?"

"You bet!" said Robbie proudly. "I'm gonna treat this race like my personal playground!"

Wendy cocked an eyebrow. "Wasn't it the playground where you scraped your knee when you were seven years old and you cried like you were only three?"

Robbie blew at a strand of hair. "Yes, but that was a public playground. Not my _personal_ playground."

"Whatever you say," said Wendy complacently, with a light shrug. 

Robbie then turned his attention to the neutral-faced child.

"I'm gonna guess that this is Frisk Dreemurr," deduced Robbie.

"You guess correctly," said Frisk with a nod. "I would like to ask how you obtained that kind of information."

Robbie shrugged his shoulders. "Word travels around Gravity Falls pretty fast. Especially when the story talks of a child who saved an entire species. To be honest, what got my attention was the part in the story where the mountaintop explodes. If you can manage to pull that off, then you are totally cool in my book."

"I appreciate it," said Frisk with a smile. "It's always nice to make a new friend."

Robbie chuckled once more, standing up. "Well I could chat with you radical losers all day, but I gotta get back to the racetrack. I don't want Tambry to think I'm ditching the race or anything."

"I thought Tambry was neutral about this whole thing," said Wendy.

"Regardless," said Robbie with a dismissive hand, heading for the door, "I should head back. See you guys at the track?"

"Count on it," said Wendy, smirking. "Good luck out there!"

"Not like I need it, but thanks anyway!" said Robbie, with a poorly maintained facade of non-caring attitude. The door was shut behind him.

"Well, I should go tell Dad about the race," Frisk said to Mabel. "Don't let me forget about that sweater, alright?"

"Rodger that!" said Mabel with a salute, as Frisk took off for the back porch.

Soon after that, Mabel and Wendy were the only ones left in the living room.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Mabel curiously.

Wendy smiled. "Well I suppose that the most logical thing to do would be to get your brother, wait for Frisk to come back, and get all three of you over to the event."

Mabel could only giggle at that. This was going to be a blast to end all blasts.

* * *

"What... am I looking at?" asked Stanford, standing next to Stanley and staring at the ridiculous heap of metal in front of them.

Stanley grinned devilishly. "You're looking at what today's teenage blockheads refer to as, 'A Sweet Ride.'"

Ford's expression became similar to one he would use if he was witnessing a very gruesome injury.

"Stanley..."

"Don't even bother telling me how awesome it looks. I already know," said Stan, smugly.

"Why are you doing this again...?" asked the baffled Stanford.

Stanley grumbled. "Because, Sixer, I need to establish my reputation of being one-hundred percent Amazing."

"Uh huh..." said Ford, not bothering to voice his opinion on how stupid of a reason that was, considering that winning a racing competition was nothing compared to sacrificing oneself to defeat a chaos demon.

"I have a suspicion that the whole town, is beginning to not take me seriously," said Stan, glaring at nothing in particular.

Ford pinched his own brow. "Has it ever occurred to you that your tendency to pull stunts like _this,_ " said Ford, pointing at the poor attempt at a motorcycle, "is the main reason why the town doesn't take you seriously?"

"You break my heart, Poindexter," exaggerated the amused Stan.

"You try my patience, Stanley," retorted the brutally honest Stanford, smiling nonetheless.

"Promise to show up to the race to cheer your brother on?" requested Stanley, disguising it as a challenge.

"Obviously," said Stanford, smirking.

* * *

The three children and Wendy ended up taking the golf cart to get to the racetrack. Mabel smiled as Frisk donned their newest sweater, which had a purple background and was decorated with white stars. Dipper noticed that the cart had a CD player, a new addition to the vehicle since he last saw it during the summer. Wendy and Mabel had to struggle to keep the young Pines boy from playing his BABBA CD during the trip. Eventually, they all made a promise that he could play the BABBA CD on their way back to the Mystery Shack. As luck would have it, Dipper wasn't the only one to have a CD hiding in his satchel. Frisk happened to have a CD as well, labeled "Introducing: Shyren."

Popping the CD in, the group was greeted by a sweet, melodic voice that fluttered into their ears. 

"Woooooooow," said Mabel with amazement. "This music is enchanting!"

"Very calming," Dipper added. "This would help immensely if the one driving the car was in an aggressive mood."

"Frisk, where did you get this?" said Wendy, unconsciously bobbing her head to the music.

"The singer ended up giving me a free copy," answered Frisk, looking out the window to admire the scenery. "I helped establish her career while she was still stuck in the underground with the rest of monsterkind."

Mabel's jaw dropped. "That's... wow..."

"Yeah Frisk, what the heck?!" said Dipper, laughing. "That's very impressive!"

Frisk blushed slightly. "Thanks guys."

Wendy laughed. "Alright you two, humbleness can only get you so far."

"What do you mean?" asked Dipper.

"Well, last I checked, both of you guys have experience in taking down ferocious monste-"

"SHHHHHHH!" hushed the worried twins, taking Wendy by surprise.

"What? What did I do?" asked Wendy, partially nervous.

"Frisk reeeeeaaaaallly doesn't like those stories," warned Mabel in a whisper. "They're upset that none of them end with peaceful resolutions."

Wendy frowned, turning her head back to the wheel.

"Frisk," said Wendy, in a somewhat flinty tone. "Monsters in Gravity Falls are not like the monsters you saved from the underground. They're ruthless, dangerous, and most of all, they're heartless."

Frisk shook their head. "I disagree with your notion. While most monsters in the underground do not fit your description of surface monsters, I have dealt with plenty of monsters that wanted nothing to do with me. It doesn't matter how long it takes, I always find a way."

Wendy didn't look back. "Frisk, I don't want to see you get hurt. When that crazy robot tore up the shack, I feared that you would end up in the same state as Dipper was. I'm telling you, monsters up here will not want to negotiate. They will kill you. Befriending them is impossible."

Frisk looked down at nothing, absolutely silent.

Thankfully, only a few minutes passed before the children found it easy to chat again.

Nobody noticed Frisk's skin glow slightly orange for a passing moment. Nobody noticed the tiny light that formed in Frisk's delicate hands.

Nobody, except Mabel.

* * *

The main monster family found themselves being transported via Mettaton's limo. Thankfully, the limo could extend as long as Mettaton's arms.

"A live event made by humans," commented Asgore with wonder. "How exciting!"

Toriel huffed. "A bunch of rowdy people competing against each other instead of finding a compromise, not to mention a bath. Yes, _how exciting."_  

"A bunch of blockheads disrespecting the rules, shoving each other around, disobeying the speed limit, and the rowdiest of them gets a trophy?!" exclaimed Undyne. "I dare you to call that anything other than entertaining!!!"

"'anything other than entertaining,'" said Sans, with a smart alec attitude. "come at me officer."

That certainly got a round of chuckles.

"I j-just hope nobody does anything too drastic," said Alphys. "W-what if the racers try to taunt the monsters?" 

"I DON'T THINK THAT WILL BE A PROBLEM, DR. ALPHYS," reassured Papyrus. "I THINK THAT THE SMOKY FIGURE KNOWN AS THE 'BLIND BIKER-'"

"pfft, dat name is so dumb," said Sans.

"-WILL MOST CERTAINLY KEEP THE OTHER RACERS IN LINE!"

"Shouldn't we be a little concerned about Stanley..............?" Napstablook spoke up. "Wouldn't a race like this be dangerous to him.................?"

"A very good question," admitted Toriel. "Although he is very healthy for his age, Stanley does have a tendency to act brashly."

"He'd be unstoppable on the stage," commented Mettaton, putting the car on autopilot to converse with the rest of the group.

"True, b-but this is a racetrack," said Alphys, fidgeting slightly. "Not a stage."

"eh, if he wipes out, just shove some popato chisps down his throat, he'll be fine," said Sans.

"SANS!" shouted Papyrus. "SURELY THERE'S A LESS AGGRESSIVE WAY TO REVIVE THE OLD HUMAN IF NEED BE!"

"sure," said Sans. "if he wipes out, just _slip_ some popato chisps down his throat, he'll be fine."

"BRILLIANT IDEA!" commented Papyrus. 

Asgore cleared his throat. "I would also like to remind everyone that we should take this invite as an opportunity to further establish ourselves into the surface community. Let's all be on our best behavior."

The monsters murmured in agreement.

"In that respect, perhaps we should try introducing the Pines twins to a member that they haven't met yet?" Toriel added.

There was a silence as the monsters pondered who they should send.

Papyrus's eye(socket)s lit up, a grand idea in his head.

"I KNOW JUST THE CREATURE! HE HAPPENS TO BE A BIG FAN OF MINE."

* * *

"No."

"Come on."

"No, Stanley."

"It would be a brotherly moment!"

"For the last time," said a firm Stanford, "I am NOT getting on that bike with you. We are chaining the bike to the car, and we are taking the _car_ to the race event."

"You're not my real dad," playfully mocked Stanley.

"Then quit acting like you're young enough to be my son," retorted Stanford.

"Ouch," said Stan.

"I'm not apologizing," said a chuckling Ford. "Now for heaven's sake, help me get this thing onto the car."

* * *

"Aaaaaaand here we are!" announced Wendy, parking the golf cart. "Kids, welcome to Bike Romp!"

"Wahoooooo!" hollered Mabel, yanking Dipper out with her as she leaped out of her seat. Frisk exited the vehicle much more calmly, but the smile on their face certainly expressed how they felt about being here.

Even though they had showed up supremely early, the track was busy enough without an audience. Racers were everywhere, taking practice laps, making mechanical adjustments, or simply stretching. Dipper caught a glimpse of Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland throwing confetti at each other. Mabel noticed Mayor Cutebiker giving the prizes a good polish; A red sports car for first place, a snazzy motorbike for second place, and a pitch black horse (that looked like it wanted to be anywhere but here) for third place. Frisk tried to see if they could find the shadowy figure they saw on Wendy's magazine, but no matter where Frisk looked, they couldn't spot the shady individual.

Wendy however, immediately succeeded in finding what she was looking for: her group of friends.

"Hey guys!!!" shouted Wendy, cupping her hands around her mouth.

All four of them saw the far away group turn its gaze in their direction, followed by enthusiastic waving.

"You guys might as well follow me," said Wendy to the kids. "At least until Soos or Stanford show up."

The children nodded, big smiles on their faces as they followed Wendy towards her group of friends. Several racers who recognized the twins waved to them as they sprinted down the track. Dipper shyly waved back while Mabel waved enthusiastically. Before long, all four of them had made it to Robbie and the rest of Wendy's friend group.

"I told you she'd show up!" Nate shouted to Thomson, while Lee grappled the latter for a fierce noogie.

"I never said she wouldn't!" insisted the worried Thomson, only getting laughter in response.

Tambry smiled at Wendy, before going to quickly type into her phone. "Status update: BFF just arrived. This event can now officially be called a party. #BikeRomp."

"Good of you to come, Wendy," said Robbie, with sincerity hidden with a smirk. "You done any vocal preparation?"

"You mean preparation for when Tambry and I scream from the stands so loudly that Stanley's hearing aid explodes?" said Wendy, looking to the side. "Mayyyyybe I did..."

"You totally did!" said a laughing Robbie, knowing that look. "I can't believe you!"

"Despite the fact that Stanley Pines isn't my boss anymore," Wendy joked, "giving Stanley a hard time is a habit that's nigh impossible to break."

"Making Grunkle Stan's hearing aid explode sounds nigh impossible as well," pointed out Dipper.

"Okay so maybe the idea is a little far fetched," admitted Wendy. "But don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing if you knew it was possible."

Dipper smiled. "Oh you know me too well."

"Not as much as I do!" Mabel loudly reminded.

"Not as much as Mabel does," repeated Dipper with agreement.

Wendy chuckled, before fastening her hat and turning to her teenage friend group. "Alright guys, I promised the twins and others that I would be in charge of snacks. As for you guys, join me if you want me to get you something! If you don't, and you complain later about being hungry, the only thing you'll get is a sandwich full of knuckle!" 

"You go on ahead guys," said Robbie, leaning on his motorcycle. "I'm good for now."

All the others, minus the kids, followed Wendy to the concession stand, chanting "Snack Raid!" over and over again.

"They all seem pretty close," commented Frisk.

"Yep," said Dipper with a nod. "In their own special way."

Dipper and Frisk waited for Mabel to add on to the conversation, and were scared when they found out that she had vanished...

Only to realize that she had totally ditched them to critique Robbie's motorcycle.

"Grey? Seriously Robbie?" said Mabel, one hand on her hips, the other gesturing to the vehicle. "How are you gonna wow the crowd with such a dull color?!"

"Woah woah woah hands off!" said Robbie, quickly putting Mabel's hand down. "I just polished this bad boy!"

"Where's the glitter? Where's the color? Where's the teddy bear passenger seat? WHERE'S THE TEDDY BEAR?!" demanded Mabel.

"Hey hey, my bike is a killer, he'd eat the teddy bear right up," said Robbie, while Frisk's face scrunched with disgust at Robbie's choice of words.

"Oh," said Mabel, backing away. "Well, thank you for not adding a teddy bear passenger seat."

"What makes it a killer, exactly?" pondered Dipper.

Robbie's grin turned devilish. "Well how about I show ya?"

But he had to backpedal when Frisk looked about ready to grab the twins and run.

"No no no, it's alright!" said Robbie with immediate reassurance. "Nobody is gonna get hurt, I didn't add anything that would cause physical harm or death!"

After Robbie was certain Frisk had abandoned any thoughts about alerting the authorities about a possible serial killer, the teen mounted the bike. His eyes then darted around a dashboard hidden between the handlebars. Finding the button what he wanted, he gave it a push. 

Dipper jumped with a startled yelp as the center of the bike's tires extended, to show a set of spikes protruding from them.

"Tire slashers?" said Frisk in an apprehensive tone.

"Bingo," said the smug Robbie.

"Isn't that against the rules?" asked a suspicious Mabel.

"Isn't that against the law?" added a worried Dipper.

"Totally, and probably," Robbie answered in order. "But that's not all. Check _this_ out!"

Hitting another button, fire spewed from the dual exhaust pipes, lurching the motorcycle forward.

_"Rocket boosters?"_ said Frisk with growing vigilance.

"Yep!" said Robbie. "God, they were a pain to install. But today will finally be the day to prove that they were totally worth it."

"Or today could finally be the day when you, you know, make the smart decision to remove them, and not have to risk getting in a painful third-degree-burn accident?!" said Dipper, exasperated. "Just saying!"

"Not happening, chump." said Robbie, crossing his arms.

"How are your friends okay with this?" said Mabel, concern showing in her eyes.

Robbie looked to the side. "Simple. They have no idea about these modifications."

"I'm not okay with this. In any sense of the word," said Frisk.

Robbie grumbled, pushing the proper buttons to retract the modifications from the visible eye. "Well when I cross that finish line and win first place, you guys will be eating your words. Anyways, this is still supposed to be a secret. So don't tell anybody about this."

The kids looked to each other. Giving one final glance at the teenager, the three of them huddled together.

"I don't like this," repeated Frisk.

"Me neither," added Dipper.

"Okay, okay, so Robbie made some bad decisions that deal with cheating in the race," said Mabel. "But, are we really in any position to judge?"

"I suppose not," said Frisk. "That's up to the mayor, I assume."

"You assume correctly," said Dipper.

"Let's stay out of it unless someone gets hurt," suggested Mabel.

"Agreed," said Dipper. "But should it happen, we show no mercy."

"No," argued Frisk. "Should it happen, we negotiate peacefully. I won't accept any other course of action."

"Fine," mumbled Dipper, unsure if it was truly the best course of action. 

The kids looked up to the imploring Robbie.

"Your secret is safe with us!" announced Mabel.

"As long as nothing goes wrong," warned Dipper.

"Thanks," said Robbie with a sigh of relief.

"And we're back!" called Wendy, returning with her friends. "The stand hadn't opened yet, but I made sure to pay most of the snacks in advance. Before you ask, Dipper, yes I remembered to request the Strawberry Sugar-Nuke Slushie."

"Yessssssss," said Dipper in a quiet, but fierce, whisper of victory.

"And just in time, too," added Wendy. "It looks like the crowd has finally arrived."

Sure enough, groups of humans and monsters were piling into the stadium, and many were already beginning to converse with their opposite species respectively. Frisk grew a giant smile at that.

"Well," said Robbie, "That's my cue to warm up the engine. See you all at the end of the track!"

But the moment Robbie turned around, he collided with a rather tall figure. Robbie stumbled and fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"Ow, what the-" growled Robbie, his words suddenly dying out as he looked up.

It was the Blind Biker.

Wendy gasped. Tambry gulped. Mabel and Dipper gripped each other. Frisk clenched their fist. Thomson, Nate, and Lee all whimpered. And poor Robbie suddenly felt a whole lot smaller.

_"So you are Valentino,"_ said the creature, bluntly. _"The young racer who is set on winning, no matter what."_

Robbie quickly got up, trying to reestablish his tendency to be a jerk. "W-well who want's to know?"

_"Your competition,"_ answered the Blind Biker. _"One who hopes to put your legend to the test."_

"Legend?!" said Robbie. "What Legend?!"

_"Very rarely do I encounter racers who think that they can take me on. It's almost sad. But there are those that insist that you are different from those cowards. I've seen posters scattered throughout this village that claim you to be highly skilled with a bike, with an unfaltering courage to go with it."_

Robbie glared daggers at Lee, Nate, and Thomson, who all hid the cursed posters behind their backs with nervous smiles. He made a mental note to clobber them later.

_"I look forward to seeing what you can do on the race track,"_ said the Blind Biker, _"But before I go, let me make one thing perfectly clear, Valentino."_

"Is Valentino supposed to be my new name or somethi-"

The Blind Biker knelt down to Robbie's level, and the whole world suddenly felt uncomfortably warm.

**_"You are here to race me, not to fight me. If any pain is inflicted on me during this race, I guarantee that I will deliver to you just as much pain, if not more. Are we clear?"_ **

"Right as rain, sir..." stammered Robbie.

_"Good."_

The chilling racer stood up, and Robbie let out a silent sigh of relief. The entire party ushered not a word as the foreboding motorcyclist silently marched away from them, seeming to vanish behind an invisible mist.

"Jeez," said Tambry. "He's got issues. You alright, Robbie?"

"Yeah, I'm good," said Robbie, brushing himself off. "I should... probably get ready."

"We're all rooting for you," promised Tambry, ignoring the looks of doubt from the rest of her friends. "That guy's nothing but a poser. Knock him off his bike."

"You got it, babe," said Robbie, heading off for his motorcycle.

"Tam?" said Wendy. "You sure you want to be convincing Robbie to clobber the Blind Biker?"

"I have faith in him," said Tambry. "Besides, didn't you tell me that he played a major part in the plan to stop-"

Tambry suddenly caught herself.

"Never mind all that," she scoffed. "The point is that this creep on a bike is nothing."

Wendy shook her head. "Tam, I know you adore Robbie and everything, but do you seriously have that much faith in him?"

"Absolutely not, I think he's going to die," said Tambry, a flash of dread crossing her face. "And so I'm trying super hard not to think about it."

Tambry suddenly pulled out her phone. "Status Update: Boyfriend off to certain doom. Trying not to think about it. #totallystillthinkingaboutit."

Then, a new voice spoke up.

"Yo, did you guys see his face! Me neither! Dude, his face must've been super scary for him to refuse to show it!"

Everybody darted their heads this way and that, to find the owner of the unfamiliar voice. Frisk took a moment to ponder, before noticing a familiar blot of yellow and orange hiding behind the confused Dipper and Mabel. Frisk smiled, and gently requested the Pines twins to separate by just a couple of inches.

Hiding behind the twins was a monster about the same height as the rest of the children. The dinosaur looking creature was mostly yellow, but its yellow tummy was decorated with orange horizontal stripes. Spikes traveled down the back of the young monster's head, and the bottom of the creature's eyes were somewhat dirty, suggesting that the monster constantly fell flat on its face. Another noticeable feature was the mini-beast's lack of arms. It's only form of limbs was its legs, if you didn't count the dino's tiny little tail as an extra limb. Despite all these traits though, as everyone observed the little monster, this was the first descriptive word that came to their minds: _adorable._

Frisk's smile was radiating as they pulled the little dino in for a hug, much to Mabel's delight and everyone else's slight bafflement.

"I still don't know your name," admitted the still-hugging Frisk, "but it's wonderful to see you again."

"You too, Frisk!" laughed the tiny dinosaur. "And, um, just call me Monster Kid! It's what my parents call me anyhow!"

Wendy almost bit her lip. Who names their child with such typical nouns?! But then she remembered that the skeleton brothers were literally named after fonts, so she didn't bother voicing her befuddlement.

"Another huggable monster!" squealed Mabel. "I wanna hug it!"

"Them," corrected Frisk, stepping away from Monster Kid. "Monster Kid is a child, just like me. Please don't refer to them as some sort of object."

"It's fine, dudes! No harm done!" assured Monster Kid.

"Well, um, Monster Kid, it's nice to meet you!" tried Dipper, extending his arm out.

...

"Oh, right," said Dipper, retracting his open hand with immense embarrassment.

Monster Kid laughed. "It's alright man! I have my own special handshake!"

"Oh?" said Dipper, curious. "What is it?"

Frisk's breath caught in their throat. "Monster Kid, wait-"

**WHAM!**

Dipper was briefly weightless as he soared in the air for half a second, landing square on his bottom in the snow. Eventually, the other top half of his body sank into the snow as well, the entire world spinning.

Mabel was on the floor for an entirely different reason, laughter coursing through her lungs like a rapid river.

Frisk sighed with a smidgen of dismay. "Monster Kid, I told you about this. Human skulls are not equipped for headbutt-handshakes."

Monster Kid's face fell slightly. "Aw man... Um... S-sorry mister! Are you okay?"

"No Waddles, that's _my_ toast," mumbled Dipper. "Get your own breakfast..."

"I don't think he is okay..." answered Wendy, concerned. 

"He'll be alright!" promised Mabel, still laughing. "Just give him a couple of minutes!"

"I love you too, marshmallow dog..." giggled the dazed Dipper.

"Seriously," said Wendy. "I think he has a concussion."

* * *

Fast forward, and Dipper and Mabel were at their seats. Since Frisk got front row seats, for being ambassador, the twins and their newest monster friend were able to get front row seats as well, by Frisk's request.

Frisk had went off to get the kids some snacks. Sitting next to them was Monster Kid, bouncing excitedly in their seat. All around them was the buzz of conversation from monsters and humans alike. The conversations varied from normal ones, like why a certain racer was going to win, to extremely weird ones, like a fully detailed explanation as to why spiders should have the right to vote. Meanwhile, Mabel was searching for familiar faces in the growing crowd.

Soos was wearing his familiar green t-shirt and cap, and he almost seemed like a different person. It was amazing how much the fez-eyepatch-combo changed the appearance of the person wearing it.

When Stanford and Stanley arrived, their faces were polar opposites. Stanley's face resembled one of heated conviction, a hard headed will to win. Stanford, on the other hand, looked like he was just told that his cat had completely totaled his $5,000 couch.

Wendy and her group of friends were a few rows behind the children, screaming their lungs out as if they were at a football game. Dipper could tell that the teenagers' constant hollering was getting to a few of the people sitting in front of the noisy group, especially the creature that seemed to resemble a beat-up test dummy.

"QUIET! QUIET!! QUIET!!!" it screeched to no avail. 

Mabel spotted some of the monsters near the podium. Asgore was making his acquaintance with Tyler, while Toriel giggled at the antics of Blubs and Durland. Papyrus were eyeing the first place prize, while Napstablook was trying his hardest to convince Mettaton to get off the second place motorbike prize. And Sans was bombarding the third place prize with horse pun after horse pun. The horse looked ready to kick him right in his nonexistent nose. Alphys was over at the concession stand, getting a couple of donuts from a monster that the kids didn't recognize, while Undyne armwrestled with what appeared to be a giant, elderly turtle. Everywhere you looked, there was activity.

Just as the kids were wondering where Frisk was, they came back, with two hotdogs in their hands.

"I thought Wendy was covering all the costs," said Dipper.

Frisk shook their head. "Who said I paid for these?"

Monster Kid's jaw dropped. "You STOLE them?!"

"I never said that," Frisk said, smiling innocently. They then handed one of the two wrapped hotdogs to Mabel. The child ambassador than sat down and began to unwrap their own hotdog.

Dipper frowned. "What, you didn't get one for me? Or for Monster Kid?"

"Where's the heart?" moped Monster Kid.

Frisk looked at the two with confusion, before suddenly freezing like they were a deer in headlights. "Oh... wow... I um... I completely forgot about you guys."

"Wha- Frisk!" said Dipper, somewhat melodramatically. "You wound me! I can't believe you would stoop so low!"

"Not cool, Frisk. That's just wrong," said Monster Kid, shaking their head.

Frisk was embarrassed beyond relief. They couldn't believe- How on earth did they manage to forget-

"Ummmm... I can go get some more-"

"Hey," said Mabel to Dipper and Monster Kid, almost like a scolding parent. "Dipper, you have your sugar infested slushie, excellent choice by the way, so I think you can live without a hotdog. Monster Kid, you don't have arms."

"I can dream..." said Monster Kid, looking down.

Mabel sobered, patting the dino's shoulder. "Never stop dreaming."

Frisk was red in the face with embarrassment. "I am... so sorry about forgetting you guys."

"Don't worry about it, Frisk! It's fine!" said Mabel cheerfully, before turning to glare daggers at Dipper. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah!" immediately agreed Dipper. "It's okay, Frisk. I'm sure I can manage."

"Okay," said Frisk, despite the pink tinge refusing to fade from their cheeks. "I'll... try to not let that happen again."

After a brief period of silence, Mabel began to chat Frisk up once more. Dipper decided that it would be an okay moment to search through the journal. He needed to confirm a suspicion...

Sure enough, there was a passage on the Blind Biker.

**_while i don't know much about the history of this creature, i hope that what i have gathered about this creature in the present day will be enough. this figure, known as the blind biker (and let me just say right now, that name is ridiculous, and i am certain i am not the only one who thinks this way,) he is an absolute danger on the road. the blind biker's skills on the bike are unmatched. but what makes him a real threat is-_ **

"DIPPER!" barked Mabel.

"What?!" yelped Dipper in horror, his shaky hands jolting up, sending the journal airborne. Mabel flawlessly snatched it out of thin air.

"Aww I wanted to read it next!" whined Monster Kid.

"Mabel, give that back!" insisted Dipper.

"No!" said Mabel. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, not panic over the supernatural!"

"I agree with Mabel," said Frisk. "You need to leave the book alone for now."

"Besides," said Mabel, "we really should focus more on keeping an eye on Robbie while he's racing. That, and critiquing Grunkle Stan's ugly motorcycle."

"Yeah, it's pretty awful," Dipper had to admit. "But still, what if Robbie does something to upset the Blind Biker?"

"Did you not see that guy get right up in Robbie's face and threaten him with his life?" said Mabel. 

"Yeah, that was AWESOME!!!" said Monster Kid, excitedly.

"I don't think Robbie's going to try to harm him," said Mabel.

"Yeah sure, not on purpose," said Dipper. "But what about an accident?"

"Very unlikely," said Frisk. "But possible. However, let's not worry about that unless it actually happens."

"Fine, fine," said Dipper, giving up. He clearly wasn't going to get anywhere with this. And it was perfect timing, because when Dipper finally pocketed the journal, Tyler walked up to the podium.

"Testing! Can everybody hear me?" Tyler asked sweetly.

The crowd voiced its answer that yes, it could hear him.

"Oh wonderful! Well, um, ahem. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WHO'S READY FOR A BIKE ROOOOOOOOMP!!!!"

The crowd exploded with cheers, making Stan cringe as his hearing aid almost blew his face off.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, cats and dogs, monsters and humans! I welcome you all to the annual Bike Romp race competition of Twenty-Welostcounteen!!!"

Another burst of applause, and Dipper could've sworn he heard the cheerful yipping of a dog as well.

Mayor Cutebiker stepped down to allow Blubs to take the mic. "Now for those who don't know, Bike Romp started way back in the good ol' year of WHO CARES, AM I RIGHT Y'ALL?!"

The audience rewarded Blubs with plenty of laughter and cheers.

"But for those of you who are actually interested in the history of Bike Romp," informed Blubs, "after the race is over, be sure to request a pamphlet from the stack being carried by Durland, the best partner in the world!"

"Aww shucks!" said Durland, smiling.

"When does the race start? I didn't come here to get a lecture," grumbled Stanley, quietly enough that only nearby racers could hear him.

Robbie rolled his eyes. "Can it, Gramps. You can wait."

"Is that so? Well, last time I checked, my life clock is running out of time a whole lot faster than the rest of you!" spat Stanley.

"You wanna shut up?" said a racer close by. "I cant hear the rules!"

"Buddy," said another racer, "Rules were made by those who were too scared to man up and treat everybody with the respect they deserve. Rules are made by those who think they can judge whatever they want. And I say, that's stupid. Why can't we all be equal?!"

"Because the public eye refers to that as 'The Red Scare,'" said Stanley. "You don't mess with The Red Scare."

_"Quiet,"_ hissed the Blind Biker, positioned near Robbie and Stan's starting lines. _"There are newcomers in the crowd. Let them hear the rules."_

"The rules are quite simple!" said Tyler, taking the mic once more.

"Rule number one is mostly for clarification: the race consists of only one lap! So don't go so fast that you trick someone in second place to think that they are in first place! It's simply rude!"

"Rule number two: no cars! And it looks like everyone followed that rule. Good job, everyone!"

"Rule number three: you can only win the prize for the place that you won. Nothing higher, nothing lower."

"What?!" said Stan. "That's stupid! When was that rule established?!"

_"Since the very first Bike Romp,"_ said the Blind Biker.

"Where have you been, man?" said Robbie, disapprovingly.

"Oh you know," said Stan. "Running the shack, saving my brother, taunting the authorities. That sort of stuff."

"Right..." said Robbie, mentally smacking himself.

"Hmmmm," said Tyler, skimming the rules list. "Rule four, keep arms and legs in vehicle at all times; rule five, treat others with as much respect as a racer is capable of; rule six, have fun..."

Tyler tossed the clipboard. "And the most important Rule Number Seven: Geeet em! GEEEEEET EM!!!"

The crowd roared with cheers and applause.

"Alrighty dighty!" said Tyler, clapping happily. "Then on the count of three, Deputy Durland shall fire the shot to start the game!"

"Is it loaded?!" jokingly shouted Lee, Nate, and Thomson.

"Wanna find out, sonny?" said Durland, an evil, but false, gleam in his eye.

"That's my Durland!" shouted Blubs. "You tell 'em!"

"If there are no further objections," said Tyler, pausing for a possible interruption, and hearing none. "Then I shall say the words! Racers, start your engines!"

"Three!"

Robbie revved up his engine, before glancing to Tambry in the stands. He gave her a thumbs up. She gave a thumbs up back at him.

"Two!"

Stan turned the handle, his crummy vehicle sputtering to life. He turned to look at the twins and Stanford. He gave the three of them a cocky wink. Mabel smiled, Dipper cringed, Stanford huffed a sigh of frustration.

"One!"

The Blind Biker twisted his firm fist, the engine awakening with a roar. The mysterious racer took a final gaze to the prize. It was his. Nobody else could have it.

**BANG!**

"GOOOOOOOOO!!!"

A thunderclap of engines soared past the starting line. The race had officially began.

"Hang on a sec," said Dipper when his ears stopped ringing. "The crowd can't see the whole track with the way it's built. How are we gonna know what's going on?"

"And for those eager to know what's going on," announced Mayor Tyler, "we have a hover drone covering the whole race in real time! And she was made by our favorite mad scientist, Fiddleford McGucket!"

The twins' eyes popped as they saw McGucket stand up. He only barely resembled the kooky old man that they had waved goodbye to in the summer. For one, he was wearing a freshly ironed suit, with a red tie to go with. For two, his posture had greatly improved, although a slight slump was there to remind everyone that Old Man McGucket was still an old man. For three, his raggedy scarecrow hat was gone, and the whole world could see the balding scalp that belonged to Fiddleford. The only remnants of the classic wacko hillbilly was his scraggly beard, and his steampunk goggles. Well, that, and the fact that...

"Well HOWDY THERE, all ya sea-dwelling up-risers of society! I am happier than a water-spewin spout to be here, in-diddley-deed! Here's to a good race, and to the hopes that my newest creation doesn't become self aware! YEE HAWW!"

...the twins could only understand the man, at most, half of the time.

"Friend of yours?" asked Frisk.

"Sort of?" said Mabel.

"Old acquaintance of Grunkle Ford's," informed Dipper. "He's a great friend when he isn't constantly messing stuff up."

Stanford was too busy gawking at McGucket's new appearance. He had to remember to give him a hug after the race was over. He had really cleaned himself up after he had moved in to the mansion previously owned by the Northwests...

"Grunkle Ford?" quietly said Mabel, tugging lightly on Stanford's jacket.

"Hm?" said Ford, woken from his musing. "What is it, Mabel?"

"You're crying..." said Mabel, concerned.

Ford's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"It's okay," continued Stanford. "Nothing bad, I promise. I'm just... proud I guess."

Mabel's eyes lit up. "OH! You're practicing for when Grunkle Stan crosses the finish line!"

Stanford had to laugh. "Well, that's if he crosses it, sweetheart. But yeah, I'll definitely be proud if he pulls it off."

"Very implausible," said Dipper, bluntly.

"Very," agreed Stanford.

With silent agreement, the four humans, and one monster, ceased chatting and looked up to the giant billboard to watch the race.

* * *

"LEARN HOW TO DRIVE, CHAPPED LIPS!" snarled Stanley, struggling to pass by the racer in front of him.

The race got chaotic very quickly, with multiple racers wiping out at the entrance to the main part of the track: the forest.

Robbie was sweating bullets, partially because he was in constant danger of death, and partially because he was doing very well.

Which meant that Stan was the one dealing with the typical competition, and Robbie was dealing the Blind _flipping_ Biker.

The creature in question was laughing. Robbie realized with horror that the creature was having _fun._

_"That's right!"_ howled the Blind Biker. _"Leave the other racers to rot, Valentino! They are beneath us! This is_ our _race!"_

_This isn't good!_ shouted Robbie's mind. _I can't keep this luck up for much longer!_

Robbie clenched his fist. Darn it, what is he panicking about. He's Robbie! And what does Robbie do best?

Break. The. Rules.

The Blind Biker shielded his visor as a blast of fire spewed from his opponent's vehicle. _"What the-?!"_

"Hasta la vista, butthead!" jeered Robbie, swerving his bike off the main track and onto a smaller path.

Stan observed the smoky creature give chase towards Robbie, also disappearing from the track.

"Now where the heck are they going?" pondered Stanley, socking yet another racer in the face and staying on the main track.

* * *

"Shoot shoot shoot shoot SHOOT!" panicked Robbie. He couldn't see the Blind Biker, but he knew he hadn't lost him. He could hear the haunting growl of the racer's bike gaining up. Looking ahead, Robbie caught a glimpse of a ray of hope as he saw an arrow sign, mounted on a pole like a weather-vane, pointing to the left.

**It appears that you are lost!** said the sign.  **Go this way to get back!**

"Oh I sure will," said a smirking Robbie, raising his arm. "But _he_ won't."

Robbie hissed in pain as his hand smacked the sign with enough force make it spin. The sign eventually rested in the opposite direction, pointing to the right. Robbie finally let out a sigh of relief, and focused on the road.

But a couple of minutes later, Robbie heard a shout of anger from his right. Robbie turned to see a very satisfying sight. The Blind Biker was having a lot of trouble trying to get back on the main track.

_"What are you doing?!"_ screamed the Blind Biker.

Robbie laughed. "Well, I'm on the path that takes me back to the track. What are _you_ doing?"

The Blind Biker hunched down on his bike, livid. _"You changed the sign!?"_

"Maybe! Or maybe it was the wind!" taunted Robbie.

_"How DARE YOU?!"_ screeched the dark racer.

"Yeah, keep crying!" ridiculed Robbie. "I could do this all day! Look at you! Your constant swerving is nothing short of hilarious! Hey, maybe you should stop focusing on me, and pay attention to where you're going-"

Neither Robbie, nor the Blind Biker, saw the giant branch that was quickly heading straight for the Blind Biker's head.

Robbie's voice caught in his throat as he witnessed the Blind Biker let go of the bike in surprise, before getting absolutely clotheslined by the branch. His helmet went flying. His bike swerved into a ditch. The racer's body skidded and landed in a snowbank.

_His head was gone._

The Blind Biker was down. The Blind Biker was _dead._

Robbie screamed.

* * *

Tambry felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Instinctively, she whipped it out to see the new notification. She paused, confused at what she saw.

"What's got your phone buzzin'?" asked Lee.

"It's a FaceTime request," answered Tambry in a tone of bemusement. "...from _Robbie_."

"What? Why?! Is he _crazy?!"_ said Wendy with a huff. 

"He _is_ one of us," pointed out Thomson.

"Thomson, you switch from loser to philosopher so quickly, its really creepy man," said Nate.

"What're you guys talking about?!" called the young voice of Mabel.

Wendy and her friends looked down to find the quartet of youngsters racing up the stairs to join them.

"We thought you guys looked a little troubled," explained Dipper, an empty slushie cup in his hand. "So Frisk decided that we should head over to your seats and see what was the matter."

"I did no such thing," denied Frisk. "You suggested that, and I simply refrained from degrading your choice of action."

"I'm here because these are my friends!" said Monster Kid. "And friends stick together!"

"You are way too cute for your own good," said Wendy to the little dino.

"Anyways, since you're curious," said Tambry to the kids. "Robbie just sent me a FaceTime request. In the middle of his race. So we're all a little suspicious about what the heck is going on over there."

"Now that you mention it," commented Mabel, "Robbie hasn't shown up on the footage from Mr. McGuckets camera drone for quiiiiiiite some time now..."

"Yeah..." said Dipper. "Same goes for the Blind Biker. I haven't seen him on the screen for a while."

"Who dares me to answer this request?" said Tambry, when the idle first request was immediately followed by a second request.

"I say do it," said Wendy, lazily flicking her hand. "I wanna know what the heck made Robbie think that it was a good idea to request a FaceTime during a race against the _Blind Biker."_

"I second that," said Dipper with a raised hand.

Tambry nodded and pressed the accept button. Her concerns grew when Robbie's face came into view. He looked very, _very,_ disturbed.

"Robbie?" said Tambry cautiously. "What's going on...?"

"Hey babe," said the miserably uptight Robbie. "Uh... just wanted to let you know that um... I'm probably gonna be chased by the cops for the rest of my life..."

"If you sent me a FaceTime request just so you can brag about how fast you're going-"

"No, its not about that," insisted Robbie.

"Then what did you do that was so drastic that you think the cops will be relentless in their attempts to arrest you for it?" questioned Tambry.

"I... accidentally chopped off the Blind Biker's head," Robbie's voice croaked.

All the red drained from Tambry's face. "You _killed_ him?" 

"Yes dear," mumbled the penitent Robbie, adjusting his phone cam a little bit for Tambry to get a full glance at the downed legend.

Robbie wasn't kidding. Where there should have been a head, there wasn't. Tambry was now acquainted with an accidental murderer. And of all the people it could've been, it was her boyfriend. 

"Guys..." said Tambry to the group. "Robbie just murdered the Blind Biker."

The group noticed Frisk get stiff, their face rapidly scrunching into fury.

"By accident," added Tambry, in hopes that it would make a difference.

"Oh," said Frisk, returning back to normal.

"See?!" said Dipper in a loud whisper, pointing at Mabel and Frisk. "I told you guys that something like this would happen!"

"Nuh uh!" said Mabel, retorting with her own fierce whisper. "You said Robbie would be in trouble! But its the Blind Biker who got in trouble, not Robbie!"

"Dang..." said Lee, still astonished at Tambry's a. "Should we let the crowd know about what happened to the Blind Biker?"

"And risk a riot?" pointed out Frisk. "No way."

"Frisk is right," said Wendy. "The main reason we have monsters in the crowd is so that we can bond with their kind. If word gets out about Robbie's... um... recent mishap, then we could end up in serious trouble."

"So yeah, nice knowing you all," spoke up Robbie from Tambry's phone. "But I should probably get ready to hightail it out of the state."

"You'll do no such thing," argued Tambry. "You're coming back here and we figure this out together."

"And risk having you get arrested too?" said a scared Robbie. "Tam, I'm pretty sure that prison doesn't have a stable WiFi connection!"

Mabel, meanwhile, was studying Tambry's phone closely. She could've sworn she saw something move.

"This isn't worth arguing over!" said Tambry. "Get back here now!"

"No!" said Robbie. "I got the law on my tail now! I gotta make a disguise or something."

"Last time I checked, I play the role of the drama queen, not you! Now shut up and-"

Mabel's eyes popped. She definitely saw something in the background. Something that neither Robbie nor Tambry were paying attention to.

Mabel quickly nudged Tambry while Robbie kept arguing. Looking at what Mabel pointed at, Tambry let out a sharp gasp.

The Blind Biker's body was _picking itself up._

"Robbie..." 

Robbie hadn't sliced off the Blind Biker's head. The Blind Biker _never had a head._

"Tambry, I'm only gonna be gone until I know I'm safe from the police."

"Robbie, sweetie, listen-"

The headless body stood up at full length, its fists clenched.

"Tell Wendy not to look for me either, she probably wants to kill me."

"Robbie," piped in Mabel, "what's the one thing we always yell at the screen when we watch horror movies?"

Robbie paused. "You mean... 'turn around, he's right behind you?'"

"TURN AROUND, HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!"

The headless racer let out a roar of demonic proportions, making Robbie drop his phone in the snow. Tambry and Mabel watched in horror as they heard a screech come from Robbie, before the call abruptly ended.

"Oh my god..." said Tambry in a quavering voice.

"What the heck happened?!" said Dipper, who wasn't able to see Tambry's screen like Mabel was able to.

"The Blind Biker was headless and he's very very mad with Robbie," said Mabel, her panicked nature forcing the words out of her mouth.

Frisk's eyebrows rose up, while the rest of the group gasped or shouted at Mabel's explanation.

"This is bad," said Frisk, voicing everybody's thoughts.

"This is mind blowing!" said Monster Kid. "Who would've known that the Blind Biker had no-"

"Shhh!" hissed Wendy. "We're trying not to send the whole stadium into a panic, remember? But still, consider my mind to be blown."

"By the looks of things, the author never figured this out either..." said Dipper in quiet astonishment, skimming the page once and pocketing the book.

"We gotta do something!" said Mabel, waving her arms up and down.

"My thoughts exactly," said Frisk with a firm nod, which Mabel smiled at. She remembered this change in Frisk's attitude from the time that Tim almost tore up the shack. Frisk was plotting.

"Wendy, you and your friends need to remain tight lipped," said Frisk. "Don't let anyone get a chance to form any suspicions. This might be difficult if any of my friends from the underground notice that I'm missing, but you must remain vigilant."

"You got it Frisk," said Wendy with a nod. "Just make it back in one piece, got it?"

"Got it," said Frisk with a nod. They then recalled Wendy's motion from earlier, and successfully replicated it, locking up their mouth and throwing away the key. Wendy smiled, recognizing her signature motion, and copied it back to Frisk.

"Dipper, Mabel," said Frisk, turning and standing up, "we have to move. We're saving Robbie."

"YAAAAAAAH LET'S DO IT!" said Mabel, pumping her fists.

"There are so many better ways to do this..." mumbled Dipper, getting up and following anyway, as they all raced down the stairs.

"Hang on guys, I'm coming too! Wait up!" shouted Monster Kid. They leaped out of their seat, faceplanted, got up, and sprinted towards the three children as they charged for the golf cart.

Stanford observed in bafflement as the four children zoomed off in the golf cart. "I think I need a little more coffee..."

* * *

"Why didn't we just follow the racetrack?!" hollered Dipper, gripping his seat as he and the kids barely missed hitting a snowman.

"You heard the rules," shouted Frisk, trying to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the path. "No cars allowed in the race. If we're gonna get to Robbie, we have to stay off the path!"

"I think I'm gonna throw up..." mumbled Monster Kid.

"Then stop thinking and just enjoy the ride!" shrieked Mabel, her hands up in the air like she was on a roller coaster.

"Have you figured out how to use my phone, Dipper?" said Frisk, before swerving out of the way of another tree.

"Your phone has like 50 different types of GPS's!!!" said Dipper, freaking out. "How am I supposed to know which one is the right one to use!?"

"Obviously, it's 'Gaagle Maps,' the only non-shady tracking app my phone has!" said Frisk, their passive nature clearly having been evaporated with their increase in stress.

"Hey ease up on the clash-talk, puffy cheeks!" said Mabel with a glare.

"My cheeks are not puffy..." mumbled Frisk.

"Naaaaah she's totally right," pointed out Monster Kid.

"I am taking away your talking privileges for the next five minutes," Frisk ordered Monster Kid.

"Okay," mouthed the dino.

"I finally figured it out!" squawked Dipper, jolting Frisk. "We are currently tracking Robbie!"

"WE RIDE!!!" hollered Mabel, jabbing her arm forward like a revolutionary war general.

Frisk stepped further down on the gas.

* * *

_"VALENTINOOOOOOO!!!"_

The unfortunate owner of said name was currently debating if the right term for his situation was 'he was in hot water' or 'he was on thin ice.'

Then the Blind Biker swung at Robbie again, and Robbie settled for 'he was  _dead_.'

The two racers were currently in the middle of a weird equivalent of an ice dance; one where the terrain was snow, the skates were bikes, and one of the contestants was trying to liquify the other contestant. 

Robbie was freaking out. The headless monster somehow managed to equip a spiked baseball bat that was specially designed to detach from it's holster, a durable chain keeping it together, making the weapon work as a mace as well as a bat. And, just his luck, _the thing was on fire._

_"HOLD STILL, YOU FILTHY MONGREL!!!"_ yowled the livid racer, detaching the spiked bat into its mace form and lunging it at Robbie.

Robbie yelped and ducked out of the way, the spikes barely missing his hair. 

_"YOU INCOMPETENT CLOD! I SAID HOLD STILL!!!"_ the Blind Biker bellowed, reattaching his mace into a bat, and aiming for Robbie's back tire.

Robbie revved up, missing the violent swing, and quickly swerved into a different direction.

"Hey!" said Robbie, his panic making him short of breath. "Remember when *huff* you considered me to be the best racer you ever saw? *huff* I vote that we go back to that..."

_"DIE!!!"_

"Oh come on, at least think about it before you toss it aside! AAACK! WATCH THE SHIRT, MAN!"

* * *

"According to the phone," shouted Dipper, the wind resistance forcing him to shout, "We're a minute away!"

"Keep your eyes peeled!" said Frisk, hunching at the wheel. "And please don't make any drastic moves!"

"You mean your plan _isn't_ to knock the Blind Biker out of his motorcycle?!" said a horrified Dipper.

"Absolutely not!" said Frisk. "That's exactly what Robbie did, and now we have to rescue him because of it!"

"I see them!" shouted Monster Kid, hopping in their seat.

"I see them too!" hollered Mabel, pointing at two far off figures, blinded by multiple snow-covered trees.

"Alright, I got a visual!" said Frisk, following Mabel's line of sight. 

"Can I at least read the Blind Biker's passage in the journal?!" exclaimed Dipper, slightly aggravated.

Frisk grumbled. "Fine! But I swear if you drop it and it goes flying out the golf cart-"

"I won't force you to listen to Dipper's following tantrum," finished Mabel. "We'll just knock him out of the golf cart too! There's nothing but snow, so he'd be fine!"

"WHAT?!" said Dipper.

"Don't want it to happen?" challenged Mabel. "Don't drop the journal like a blockhead!"

"Whatever you decide, decide quickly," said Frisk, tightening their hands on the wheel, and poising their foot on the gas pedal. "We're going in."

* * *

Despite all of Robbie's maneuvering, the Blind Biker was gaining up on him.

_"I WILL NOT LET A LYING, CHEATING, IMMATURE WEASEL KEEP ME FROM OBTAINING WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE!!!"_

"Dude, I'm sorry I chopped off your non-existent head! Now would you put down that demon-spawn of a weapon?!"

_"YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO MAKE DEMANDS HERE!"_

"Not even if I said 'Please?'"

_"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!"_

* * *

"You guys may wanna hear this!" said Dipper, as he read the journal. "It gives us a suggestion on how to stop the Blind Biker! And Frisk, before you ask, it doesn't involve killing."

Frisk rolled their eyes. Not that anybody saw that, of course.

"Well go on and read it!" yapped Mabel, while she consoled a very dizzy Monster Kid. "We're kinda running out of time here!"

Dipper looked ahead. Mabel was right, the golf cart was quickly gaining on Robbie and the Blind Biker, both of them too occupied to notice the cart in the distance. Dipper cleared his throat and began to read the passage aloud.

**_the blind biker's skills on the bike are unmatched. but what makes him a real threat is not his talents, but his flaws. the biggest flaw in this case would be his temper. if you have any hopes of survival without having to resort to killing, you first need to find a way to calm the blind biker down. this creepy racer is actually very easy to reason with, as long as he is calm. whatever comes next is up to whoever is reading this. good luck._ **

********Dipper closed the book and pocketed it. "Well it's not much to go on, but if we want to avoid aggression, we need to find a way to help the Blind Biker relax."

"Whenever I was hot headed in the Underground," mumbled Monster Kid, still slightly dizzy, "I would bury my face in the snow. It helped cool me down."

"The Blind Biker doesn't have a head," reminded Frisk.

"Oh right..." said Monster Kid, chuckling bashfully.

"When I got angry, I usually ate a bunch of marshmallows!" suggested Mabel.

"I said we need to calm him down! Not rile him up!" stressed Dipper. "And even if the Blind Biker collapsed after the sugar wore off, I do not want to see how dangerous that racer could be on a sugar rush."

Mabel moped. This day was just falling apart. She wanted to go back to what it was like as she was heading to the race track. Pleasant conversations with her friends, beautiful scenery, the sweet sounds of Frisk's Shyren CD flowing through her ears-

_Frisk's Shyren CD._

"TURN ON THE SOUND SYSTEM!!!" shrieked Mabel, scaring the other three kids to death.

"Seriously Mabel?!" screamed Dipper. "Car karaoke is the last thing you should be thinking about right now!"

Frisk didn't bother to argue with Dipper. They slammed their hand on the on-switch.

* * *

"Hey Mr. Stanford?" said Soos, getting Ford's attention.

"What is it?" asked Stanford.

"Maybe my eyes are just playing tricks on me..." said Soos, scratching his head and squinting at the track. "...but isn't that Mr. Stanley coming around the corner of the track?"

* * *

The Blind Biker was one swing away from impaling his nemesis, when he suddenly became aware of a soft melody in the distance. 

Robbie noticed soon after, and the two racers halted their chase to identify the delicate music. 

They soon learned that the beautiful ballad belonged to a speedy golf cart, one that soared off a hill and landed with a loud thud in front of the motorcyclists. As the Blind Biker's rage faded with the music, he took notice of the four children that came sprawling out of the cart. The first was a very ill-looking dino kid. The second was an energetic little girl. The third was a cautious little boy. And the final child looked ready to lay down the law.

Frisk quickly went to work, marching up to the racers that were at least twice the child's size.

"Good afternoon," stated Frisk.

_"Good afternoon..."_ replied the perplexed Blind Biker. 

"Ummm... Sup?" said Robbie.

"Allow me to answer the question of why I am here, before it is asked," stated Frisk, hands behind their back. "I am here to fulfill my duty as Ambassador of Monsters, as well as Unofficial Peace Keeper."

The Blind Biker crossed his arms. _"And why were you inclined to bring those other three children?"_

"I see no need to justify my decisions to bring my friends with me," said Frisk. "Especially when my decisions pale in contrast to your own decisions."

The Blind Biker growled. _"I implore you to elaborate."_

"Hey!" shouted Mabel to the Blind Biker, startling him, Frisk, and everyone else.

"What are you doing?" whispered Frisk hastily to Mabel. The latter ignored Frisk's remarks, opting to march up right next to where Frisk was standing.

"My name is Mabel Pines!" Mabel said, all her focus directed at the Blind Biker. "I am a congresswoman, Queen of Tree Frogs, and best friend of the Ambassador! You will not question the methods of my friend!"

_"Congresswoman? Queen of Tree Frogs?"_ said the Blind Biker, utterly confused.

"It's best if you just go along with what she says," advised Robbie.

"Frisk is doing everything they can to keep the peace between Monsters and Humans," said Mabel firmly. "They even go out of their way to ensure that anybody who tries to break the peace is reasoned with, instead of being harmed! So this whole thing will be over a lot faster if you would just shut your gob and listen to the kid!"

The Blind Biker and Robbie were speechless. Mabel gave Frisk a smile, and went back to where she previously stood.

"Ummmm... Thanks Mabel..." said Frisk, somewhat touched. "Anyways, she is right. This whole thing will go by much more quickly if I have your full cooperation and a willing to accept humiliation.

There was a moment of silence, before the racers gave a small nod.

"Alright, whatever," said Robbie.

_"All I ask is that you don't take too long,"_ requested the Blind Biker.

"I will try," said Frisk.

Unfortunately, Robbie was the first one to face Frisk's detestation.

"What on Earth were you thinking?" scolded Frisk, taking Robbie by surprise. "If you had to resolve to cheating, and were so determined to use it that you risk aggravating a dangerous-looking individual, I have no choice but to be highly skeptical about your true skills as a racer. I pray that your skills are lackluster, because if you were truly talented, your act of breaking the rules would baffle me to the point of fury."

"Kid, how do you know half of those words?!" said Robbie.

"Is that seriously all you got from my statement?" scolded Frisk.

"No!" defended Robbie. "You're just.... okay fine, you're right. One hundred percent. I'm not a racer. I guess I'm pretty good at it, but I don't enjoy it. At all."

_"So the posters all over the town were telling lies?"_ questioned the Blind Biker.

"Yep," sighed Robbie. "You can thank my friends for that. Although I have to take part of the blame as well. It was my idea after all."

"So you admit that what you did was wrong," said Frisk with a nod. "Now, we need to know why you were compelled to enact on this wrong action."

"It's because of Tambry, okay?" said Robbie, deflating.

"Your girlfriend?" guessed Frisk.

"You're only scratching the surface regarding what she means to me, but yeah," said Robbie. "It's just... she amazes me day after day after day... and... I feel like I can't amaze her like the way she amazes me."

Frisk's face softened. "Robbie, whenever Tambry impressed you, did she ever do anything that wasn't in her nature?"

Robbie thought about it, before quietly answering, "Not really..."

Frisk smiled. "Then why should you have to change to impress her? You guys didn't become a couple if you hated each other, right?"

"Don't. Say. A word." whispered Mabel to Dipper, the latter giving a nod in response.

"She likes you because you're Robbie. How do you think she would feel if she knew the person she liked was trying to separate themself from the qualities she adored?"

"Wow..." thought Robbie. "Thanks a lot, now I feel like a jerk."

"So what will you do now?" said Frisk.

Robbie sighed. "I guess I'll just try my hardest for the rest of the race, and put away the bike after its all over. Forget what prize I get. If I get one in the first place."

"Excellent. I wish you the best," said Frisk happily.

Then, it was the Blind Biker's turn.

"Sir, I am disgusted with you," snarled Frisk. "It pains me that humans and monsters believe that losing a game is a perfect reason to kill. It is not. This is not a negotiable matter."

The Blind Biker felt his anger rising, but he quickly let go of it. The kid was right.

"That being said," Frisk continued, "there must be a reason for the anger, just like there was a reason for Robbie's actions. So what's your reason?"

The Blind Biker managed a sigh, and stepped off of his motorcycle. _"In all my time on this track, there has been one problem with it that never went away."_

"And what would that problem be?" asked Frisk politely.

_"That nobody in this town has a bike and or skill that is durable enough to manage even one single lap on this ridiculous track!"_ huffed the Blind Biker. _"Your entire town painted me to be this 'legend,' this 'unstoppable force of nature.' But the truth is, I'm surrounded by rookies on average bikes, and we're all racing on a track in the middle of winter! What were the founders of this annual tournament thinking when they decided to hold it during the worst season for driving a motorcycle?!"_

"It is very peculiar, I must admit," agreed Frisk. "But why would that make you angry with the outcome? After all, it gave you a giant advantage."

_"I never wanted that giant advantage,"_ moaned the Blind Biker in annoyance. _"That giant advantage is why I keep coming back. That giant advantage is why that the prize which is rightfully mine is always out of reach!"_

"The prize in question being the pride of obtaining a well-earned victory?" inferred Robbie.

_"Something like that..."_ said the Blind Biker.

Then, without warning, Mabel's phone meowed. Mabel had received a message.

"You guys are doing great, keep it up!" encouraged Mabel to the racers, before taking out her phone to see the new message.

_"Okay..."_ said the Blind Biker. _"Anyways, this victory I'm seeking is not exactly the typical victory that a racer would seek out-"_

"NO WAY!!!" shouted Mabel, shocking the group. "How did- there's no way that- WOW!!!"

"What, what, what happened?!" said Dipper, slightly freaking out.

Mabel shoved her phone out in the open for everyone to see. "Mr. Blind Biker, your title of 1st place just got taken by-"

* * *

"Stanley Pines!" announced Cutebiker. "You are hereby awarded the Bike Romp Title for First Place! CONGRATULATIONS!"

"He did it..." said a flabbergasted Wendy. "He actually DID IT!"

"MR. PINES! MR. PINES!" chanted Soos. Eventually, the entire arena was chanting Stanley Pines's name.

All except for Stanford, who was shocked to the point of speechlessness.

* * *

"WE GOT SHOWN UP BY AN OLD MAN?!" griped Robbie. "I know I said I would accept losing, but I didn't want my dignity to be wiped away with it!!!"

"Trust me, this won't damage you at all," said Dipper. "If anything, it only proves the town's suspicions that Grunkle Stan is nothing short of erratic."

"Well I certainly did not anticipate that to happen..." commented Frisk.

"Yooooooo that guy must be super rad to have taken down the Blind Biker!" exclaimed Monster Kid. "I wanna meet him!"

"Maybe you could stop by the Mystery Shack later!" suggested Mabel to Monster Kid. "I could introduce you to Waddles!"

The Blind Biker, unlike everybody else, had ceased chatter. It was starting to spook Robbie out.

"Ummm... Hey man, uh..." stammered Robbie, "It totally stinks that Mr. Crusty Skin took your title like that, and I understand your frustration, but-"

_"Frustration?"_ repeated the Blind Biker, with an unexpected tone of hopefulness. _"Are you kidding? This is perfect."_

"Wait what?" said a stupefied Robbie.

_"Get on your bike,"_ demanded the Blind Biker. _"We're finishing this."_

"At what point do you explain what the heck you're getting at?!" said Robbie, thoroughly confused as he mounted his bike.

_"I'll explain at the finish line,"_ answered the Blind Biker, before devilishly adding, _"Unless you'd rather quit."_

"Oh it's onnnnnn, man!" said Robbie, starting his engine.

"WAIT!" shrieked Frisk, close to the Blind Biker's position. The Blind Biker looked down to see Frisk holding a familiar, crucial object.

"You forgot your helmet," said Frisk, handing the helmet over to the monster. The Blind Biker fastened his helmet atop of his neck, and revved the engine.

_"Thanks,"_ said the Blind Biker.

The racers bolted off with their motorcycles once again, leaving the kids to return to the track with the golf cart.

* * *

"tori, you gotta calm down," said Sans, a nervous smile etched on his face. "let's not forget that this is frisk we're talking about. they're more than capable of defending themself if they are in danger."

Toriel scowled, making Sans's head sink into his jacket a little further.

"While you bring up a good point," said Toriel, holding her fury back, "Frisk gave us no notice of their departure. I am certain they will be fine, but I will not apologize for having a genuine reason to worry!"

"I'm sure everything will be alright," soothed Asgore from a safe distance. "I'm sure it was an urgent matter that came up, and they simply didn't have the time to notify us."

"Well let us hope that you are correct for once, Asgore," huffed Toriel. "I do wish to avoid having to ground them. They always look so miserable when an incident arrives that forces them to stay in their room. Well, for the most part anyways."

"W-wait," said Alphys, squinting as she focused her binoculars on a golf cart that was heading to the parking lot on the other side of the arena. "I think I see them! And the twins, and Monster Kid!"

Toriel stood up, but everyone gave her a look of worry, beckoning her to stay put.

"Let's wait until we are sure we have all the facts," suggested Asgore.

"You're right," reluctantly agreed Toriel. 

* * *

"Welp, there they are," said Wendy, seeing the golf cart. "Annnnd no sign of Robbie. This isn't good."

Tambry's hands had gotten so shaky that Wendy was forced to take her phone away, to lessen the chances of the phone flying out of her hands.

"Status update," mumbled Tambry to herself, "I am so terrified right now. He's dead. He's so dead, and I have to live with it."

"Actually, I wouldn't jump to that conclusion just yet," said Wendy in Tambry's direction. "The kids certainly don't look like they saw a dead body."

When the kids got to Wendy's group, Tambry almost shouted at them in her panic.

"How bad is it?" said Tambry shakily.

"Your significant other is perfectly safe, ma'am," said a smiling Frisk, while the other kids giggled as Tambry's face grew a blush that was darkening rapidly.

"You guys showed up just in the nick of time," said Wendy, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Your mother was starting to get antsy."

"She's really scary, even from a distance," cowered Thomson, while Lee and Nate nodded in agreement.

"Let's refrain from calling my mother 'scary,'" said Frisk. "Unless you consider every other angry mother in the world to be scary, that is."

"Well considering that she's charging up here right now," said Dipper, eyes wide as he saw Toriel charge up the stadium, "I'd like to point out that her presence is very unnerving, especially when she runs."

Frisk grew pale, and prepared themself to be lifted off their feet into a bone crushing hug. And it was good that they did that, because Toriel _delivered._

"OOOOOOO I have a good mind to put you on a strict time out, but I'm so glad your safe!" wailed Toriel, while poor Frisk felt like their spine was about to snap.

"I'm fragile," reminded a whimpering Frisk. "I'm a fragile human, Mother."

"Oh yes, my mistake," said Toriel, lessening her grip but not letting go. "But next time, let your mother know before you disappear like that."

"It was an emergency!" sprung Mabel, quick to defend the child ambassador.

Dipper nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if Frisk didn't take immediate action, Robbie might have died!"

"Robbie?" asked Toriel, the name unfamiliar to her.

"Friend of mine," said Wendy, lazily raising her hand for half a second before setting it down. "I don't think you'd like him. He can be a jerk. And an idiot. Actually, he has quite the talent for being both at the same time."

"And yet he still manages to be considerate every once in a blue moon," chuckled Tambry, giddy with the knowledge that her boyfriend was apparently unharmed.

"Oh. Well then," said Toriel to Frisk. "If your sudden departure was because you were trying to save a friend of yours, I suppose that the punishment shouldn't be severe. Still, something has to be established."

Toriel took a moment to think.

"Frisk, you will not be getting any butterscotch cinnamon pie tonight."

"Fair enough," said Frisk, slightly moping. 

Tambry suddenly shot out of her seat, eyes wide.

"Oh my god, there he is," she said.

The entire company turned their heads to their right, so see two racers neck and neck; Robbie Valentino and the Blind Biker.

The stadium went insane.

Wendy and her friends leaped out of their seats to sheer Robbie on. Soos hollered in excitement while Stanford cringed at the sudden uproar of noise. The entire monster crew started cheering, eager to see who would beat who. Sans put on a pair of ear muffs and went back to sleep.

"GO ROBBIE!!!" screamed Tambry with excitement.

"This is it, man!" said Robbie to the Blind Biker. "Final stretch!"

_"I've been waiting a long time for this moment to arise,"_ said the Blind Biker. _"Time to finally end it!"_

The motorcycles growled and screeched as the racing duo revved up the gas and sped for the finish line.

Mabel was currently bounding up and down in pure energetic excitement, and poor Dipper had found his back on the receding end of a flurry of pounding fists from his wired sister. Dino Kid was also screaming in excitement, while Frisk made sure their friend didn't trip and tumble off the stadium.

Robbie's ears were ringing at the deafening sound. The end was quickly approaching. He was neck and neck with the Blind Biker. They were both swiftly gaining on the finish line. At this rate, it would be a tie. But just as they were about to cross it...

The Blind Biker slammed on his brakes.

Robbie Valentino had just won the second place title, with the Blind Biker putting himself in third place.

_And the crowd goes wild._

* * *

"Stanley Pines," announced Tyler, "I hereby award you, for winning first place, your very own red sports car!"

"I have no use for this thing!" joked Stanley, basking in the cheers of the crowd.

"Robbie Valentino," continued Tyler, "You are awarded, for winning second place, a standardized motorbike! Built for cruising and the occasional race!"

"Thanks Tyler, can I call you that?" said Robbie, getting a laugh from the audience. "Umm actually, I wanna say something, and it involves my amazing girlfriend, Tambry."

Wendy snickered as the blush returned to Tambry's face.

Robbie cleared his throat. "When I first signed up for this race, the plan was to give this bike to Tambry, if I were to lose my original goal of first place, which somehow came true. But thinking back on it, she probably wouldn't have wanted it."

Tambry's eye widened, and Wendy had to suppress herself from saying "Awwwww!"

"That's just not who we are," said Robbie with a shrug. "Our life isn't burning rubber on the roads of Gravity Falls, or having the cops constantly on our tale because of the thrill of it. Our life is about laughing at the newest post on Tam's blog page. Our life is mascara tune-ups. Our life is messing around in the living room, the house flooded with my amateur singing and Tambry's laughter."

Tambry was almost certain her mascara was running down her cheeks.

"And you know what?" said a smirking Robbie, before walking over to the bike he used to cross the finish line, and kicking it to its side. "This bike isn't a part of our life!"

The crowd burst with cheers and howls, while Wendy comforted an emotional Tambry.

"I love this town," wept Tyler, dabbing at his eyes with a hankie. "And last but not least, Mr. Blind Biker-"

The Blind Biker stepped forward. _"Allow me to interrupt for just a second."_

And he took off his helmet.

The entire party gasped at the non-existent head that they saw.

_"As you can see,"_ said the Blind Biker, _"the name you all gave me is a little stupid. If you were to be accurate in your nickname, I should be called the Blind, Deaf, Mute, Anosmic Biker. However, 'The Blind Biker' actually has a nice ring to it, so I might end up keeping it. Tyler, you may now continue."_

"Um yes, well!" said Tyler, doing his best to be unfazed, "Mr. Blind Biker, for winning third place, you are awarded your very own horse!"

The crowd did their best to stifle their giggles. In all the time that Bike Romp was a thing, the third place horse never allowed itself to be taken by whoever won third place that year.

So it took everyone by surprise when the horse slowly trotted up to the Blind Biker. The Blind Biker patted the horse gently, his voice becoming a soft hum.

_"Hey there Daredevil,"_ cooed the Blind Biker. _"How are ya buddy?"_

Tyler Cutebiker gawked. "Sir... is that horse yours? Oh dear, I'm so sorry! I would've given him to you from the start if I knew!"

_"It's my own fault"_ admitted the Blind Biker, continuing to pet the horse that was getting happier and happier by the second. _"I got caught in the thrill of the race. I felt like I couldn't surrender to third place if I was without a challenge. But with the close race with Valentino, I finally felt the thrill of a good race. So I could finally allow myself to take third place without feeling like it was given to me on a silver platter."_

_"Oh and one more thing,"_ said the Blind Biker. _"This horse technically doesn't belong to me."_

There was a crack of thunder, and the whole track seemed to grow dark. Despite a blue sky, a feeling of cloudiness swept through the air. The sun was shining, but the ground was basked in moonlight.

_"It belongs to him."_

As the Blind Biker lifted his arm to point, Dipper, Mabel and Frisk looked towards the direction that the racer was pointing at.

A lone figure stood on a hill, the abnormal lighting basking him in a silhouette. A holstered sword could be made out, as well as a sily cape that flowed with a wind that nobody else could feel.

He didn't have a head.

"The Headless Horseman," whispered Dipper in awe. "I thought he was just a myth..."

The company was silent as the Headless Horseman slowly treaded down the hill, and across the track, to come face to face with the Blind Biker.

_"Hi Dad,"_ said the Blind Biker.

Dipper had officially seen and heard everything.

_"Afternoon, Junior,"_ said the Headless Horseman, in a dark and wispy voice.

_"Don't call me that,"_ said the Blind Biker, chuckling anyways.

_"I see that you were able to get Daredevil back,"_ said the Headless Horseman, seemingly proud and slightly surprised.

_"And you said I wouldn't be able to do it without killing anybody,"_ said the Blind Biker smugly. _"Well... you were very close to being right. But forget that."_

_"Regardless, I'm very proud of you,"_ said the Headless Horseman, placing a hand on the Blind Biker's shoulder. _"Come. Let's go home. Your mother made pancakes."_

_"Sweeeeeeet,"_ said the Blind Biker with a fist pump.

The crowd observed the two headless riders mount their respective vehicles. The Headless Horseman patted Daredevil's head and then kicked its sides one time. Daredevil neighed, lifting its front legs up for a second, before setting itself down and galloping towards the faraway hill. The Blind Biker put his helmet back on and started up the bike. He lifted himself in a way to bring the front wheel up off the ground, and revved the gas so hard that the screaming motor sounded like a whinnying stallion. Then the Blind Biker brought the bike back down, and rocketed off towards the hill. The two riders went further and further away, before disappearing altogether.

The moonlight disappeared, the sky brightened up again, and all traces of the headless riders had vanished.

"I can't believe it..." said Wendy. "Nobody died. Everybody just... went home."

Frisk gave Wendy a knowing smirk. "Like I said on the way here, Wendy, I always find a way."

"Well that was exciting!" said Tyler. "But with that, let's wrap up this year's Bike Romp! Everybody give a hand to Stanley Pines, OUR NEW CHAMPION!!!"

There were screams, barks, air horns and confetti. Everywhere Stan looked, not a single frown could be seen. Stanley sighed in contentment. His smile only grew as he noticed his brother, who clearly looked like he still couldn't believe what had happened.

Stanley gave Stanford a look that said "Told ya."

Stanford responded with a look that said "You sure did."

The cheers and roars from the stadium were so intense, that nobody took notice when Stanley's winning motorcycle exploded.

* * *

Stanley found himself in his old car, driving the four kids back to the shack. Monster Kid promised that their parents were at the shack waiting to pick them up, so Stan didn't see a reason why he couldn't drive them to the shack. The only thing unpleasant about the trip is that he was forced to listen to Dipper's BABBA CD for the trip's entirety. Apparently Mabel had made a promise that Dipper could listen to it on the way home. He grumbled and swallowed his pride. If Dipper was enjoying it, Stanley could stomach it.

"So what you guys are telling me," said Stan, "Is that all four of you risked life and limb, by barreling through the snowy hills of Gravity Falls, just to set a dispute before it got ugly?"

"With all due respect, the dispute was already ugly when we got there," said Frisk. "The Blind Biker was about to crush Robbie with a mace-bat, sir. I felt it was necessary to take immediate action."

"Frisk was amazing! You should've seen them, Grunkle Stan!" said Mabel excitedly. "They told those guys off like it was nobody's business!"

"Yeah!" said Monster Kid. "And when things looked like they were about to get hairy, Mabel stepped up and saved Frisk's hide!"

"Umm wait-" said Mabel stammering. "They didn't need saving! They needed help! That's all!"

"Come on Mabel," said Dipper in a teasing tone. "We all know you just wanted to be Frisk's knight in shining armor."

Mabel began to sweat. "Naaaah come on guys that-"

"Oh this is just too much!" said Stan, laughing his head off. "I bet you were expecting Frisk to leap into your arms, squealing 'My hero~!'"

"Guuuuuys!" said Mabel, shrinking into her sweater as everybody laughed.

Frisk chuckled with slight embarrassment before turning sincere. "All joking aside, I do believe gratitude is in order. Mabel was willing to keep the peace, instead of resorting to violence. I am very grateful for that display of mercy. So, thank you Mabel."

"Oh!" said Mabel, letting out a little giggle. "No problemo!"

"Alright, time to move on from all this talk about dangerous missions," said Stan, "What the heck am I supposed to do with that red sports car?! I don't want it! I don't need it! The glory of winning was really all I was out for!"

"What about selling it?" said Dipper. "That's usually what you do with anything that you deem to be even the slightest bit expensive."

"Kid, that was when I was trying to keep away from the law. I mean don't get me wrong, money is always something I'm looking for, but I'm not a scrounger anymore!"

"Maybe give it to Stanford?" said Mabel. 

"Oh no way," said Stanley. "He'd just think I'm rubbing another one of my rare victories in his face. I've done enough of that for one lifetime."

"Guys guys guys," said Monster Kid, with narrowed eyes and a cunning smirk. "I know exactly what to do with this thing."

* * *

"YOU'RE GIVING THIS TO MEEEEEEEE?!" said an absolutely floored Papyrus.

"We sure are!" said a giddy Monster Kid.

"CAN I DRIVE IT?! RIGHT NOW?!?!" said Papyrus, getting more and more ecstatic.

"Yeah you can!" said a beaming Mabel, with fists clenched in pure valor.

"Hang on, we don't even know if he has his licence yet!" said Stanley.

"i can answer that," said Sans out of nowhere.

"Stop doing that, that's really creepy!" said Dipper.

"why not?" said Sans. "i'm supposed to be scary. it's halloween."

"Wh- no it isn't!" screamed Dipper. "Halloween was two months ago!"

"well it's probably halloween somewhere else," said Sans. "anyways, to answer stan-man's question, my brother does indeed have his license. he's free to use the car if he wants to."

"AND I DO WANT TO! RIGHT NOW IN FACT!" said Papyrus, cartwheeling into the driver's seat. "I PROMISE TO BE BACK FOR MY NIGHT PATROL ON THE ROOF! TILL THEN, FAREWELL!"

And with that, Papyrus drove out of the driveway. Very.  _Very._ Slowly.

"Ummmm..." said Dipper. "Why exactly does Papyrus have a driver's license?"

Sans chuckled. "the instructors just couldn't see him getting into any unforeseen accidents with how slow he went. so they just gave him the card."

Everybody laughed at that. Soon after the giggles subsided, Stan unlocked the door to the gift shop, letting everyone inside. He entered after everyone else, gently closing the door shut.

If one listened closely, they could hear one final roar of a motorcycle being carried through the wind. The final traces of the Blind Biker, being carried to another town.

* * *

_The best relationships are the ones where you can be yourself._

* * *

## OVG'H VMW DRGS Z JFVHGRLM, LMV GSZG'H VOVTZMG ZMW WVOFCV.  
  
SLD RH GSV YORMW YRPVI IVOZGVW GL GSV GRNV UOFC?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case any of you are wondering, my headcanon voice for the Blind Biker is Reaper from "Overwatch"


End file.
